1. And there was given to me a reed like a staff; and the angel stood near, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2. And the court which is without the temple cast out, and measure it not, for it is given to the nations, and the holy city shall they trample down forty-two months. 3. And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. 4. These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing before the God of the earth. 5. And if anyone will hurt them, fire shall go forth out of their mouth and shall devour their enemies; and if anyone will hurt them, thus must he be killed. 6. These have power to shut heaven, that the rain rain not in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they will. 7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them and overcome them and kill them. 8. And their bodies shall be upon the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9. And they of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations shall see their bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their bodies to be placed in sepulchers. 10. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and shall be glad, and shall send gifts one to another, because those two prophets tormented them that dwell upon the earth. 11. And after the three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. 12. And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 13. And in that hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake names of men seven thousand; and the rest became afraid, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14. The second woe is past; behold, the third woe cometh quickly. 15. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become our Lord's and His Christ's, and He shall reign unto the ages of the ages. 16. And the twenty-four elders who sit before God upon their thrones fell upon their faces and worshiped God, 17. Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who is, and who was, and who is to come, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and entered upon the kingdom. 18. And the nations were angered, and Thy anger is come, and the time of the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to Thy servants, the prophets and the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy them that destroy the earth. 19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant; and there were lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail.

EXPOSITION

Verses 1, 2. And there was given to me a reed like a staff; and the angel stood near saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. And the court which is without the temple cast out, and measure it not, for it is given to the nations; and the holy city shall they trample down forty-two months. 1. "And there was given to me a reed like a staff," signifies the mode of visitation, that is, of exploring the quality of the church in respect to truth and to good (n. 627); "and the angel stood near saying," signifies the Lord's will and command (n. 628); "Rise, measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein," signifies that he should explore the church, what is its quality in respect to the reception of Divine truth and Divine good, and thence in respect to the worship of the Lord (n. 629). 2. "And the court which is without the temple cast out, and measure it not," signifies that the external of the Word, and thence of the church and of worship, is not to be explored (n. 630); "for it is given to the nations," signifies since it has been perverted by evils of life and falsities of doctrine (n. 631); "and the holy city shall they trample down," signifies that they will destroy all the doctrine of truth and good from the Word (n. 632); "forty-two months," signifies even to the end of the old church and the beginning of the new (n. 633).