God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgement is come and worship Him who made heaven, and 8 earth, and the sea, and the springs of waters." And another angel followed, saying, "The great Babylon is fallen, is fallen; [because] she made all nations drink of 9 the wine of the fury of her fornication t." And another third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If any one worship the beast and his image, and receive the 10 mark of the beast on his forehead, or on his hand; he shall drink of the wine of the fury of God, which is prepared without mixture in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence 11 of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment shall go up for ever and ever|| : and they shall have no rest day or night who worship the beast and his image, and if any one receive the mark of 12 his name." Here is the patience of the saints, who keep 13 the commandments of God, and faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying ††, "Write: happy are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth: Yes, saith the Spirit; they rest from their labours; and their works follow them t‡."

14

And I looked, and, behold, a white cloud, and upon

the great city, Babylon, R. T.

+ Gr. mixed.

+ Or, of her furious fornication. N. m.

It would be very unreasonable to infer the gloomy doctrine of eternal misery from the loose and figurative language of a prophetic vision, in opposition to the plainest dictates of reason and justice, and to the whole tenor of divine revelation. But if any one is disposed to lay undue stress upon this text, it may be sufficient to remark, that it is not here asserted that the torment continues, but that the smoke of it ascends for ever and ever. The smoke of a pile in which a criminal has been consumed may continue to ascend long after the wretched victim has ceased to suffer. And a memorial of the punishment which has been inflicted on vice may remain long after vice itself has been utterly exterminated. After all, as the prophecy relates wholly to states of things in the present world, the punishments threatened ought, in all reason, to be understood of temporal punishments, and not of the sufferings of a future life. So in Jude, ver. 7, Sodom and Gomorrha are represented as suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, i. e. of a temporal calamity, a fire which completely destroyed them.

Here are they who keep, R. T.

tt Or, go with them.

++ saying unto me, R. T.

the cloud one sitting, like a son of man*, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the templet, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Put in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come [for thee] to reap; 16 for the harvest of the earth is ripe." And he that sat on the cloud applied his sickle to the earth; and the earth 17 was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple 18 which was in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had authority over the fire thereof, and called with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in thy sharp sickle, and cut the clusters of the vine of the earth; for 19 its grapes are fully ripe." And the angel applied his

sickle to the earth, and cut off the clusters of the vine of the earth, and cast them ¶ into the great wine-press of the 20 wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden, out of

the city; and blood came out of the wine-press up to the bridles of the horses, for the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

CH. XV. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and won

derful; seven angels having the seven last scourges for 2 by them the wrath of God was finished ††. And I saw as it were a laver of glass** mingled with fire; and those that had gotten the victory over the beast ff, and over his image, and over the number of his name, standing by 3 the laver of glass**, having the harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the lamb, saying, Great and wonderful are thy works, O Lord God Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, 4 O King of the nations ¶¶. Who shall not fear [thee,] O

the Son of man, N.

power over fire, N. See Wakefield.

Or, heaven, MSS.

vines of the earth; for their, N. tt filled up, N.

¶ and cut the vines of the earth, and cast the clusters, N.

** Or, Sea of chrystal, Wakefield.

tt Or, who were pure from, or uncorrupted by the beast, etc. See Schleusner. [R. T. adds, and over his mark.

¶ King of Saints, R. T. O King eternal, N. See Griesbach. The MSS. vary..

5

Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all the nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy righteous acts are made manifest."

And after that I looked*, and the temple of the taber6 nacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: and the seven angels, who had the seven scourges, came out [of the temple,] clothed in pure white linen, and girded 7 about their breasts with golden girdles. And one of the

four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden phialst full of the wrath of God who liveth for ever and 8 evert. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and none was able to enter into the temple, till the seven scourges of the seven CH. angels were finished. And I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go, and pour out the seven phials of the wrath of God upon the earth." And the first went, and poured out his phial upon the earth; and a bad and noisome ulcer fell upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and upon those that worshipped his image.

XVI.

2

3

4

And the second [angel] poured out his phial upon the sea; and it became blood like that of a dead man: and every [living] creature died in the sea.

And the third angel poured out his phial upon the rivers and springs of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying; "Thou art righteous, that art, and wast, and that art holy ††, be6 cause thou hast thus executed judgement: for they have

* I looked, and behold, R. T.

+ bowls, N. Piaλas.-In every instance where this word occurs, the Primate

translates it bowls.

Gr. ages of ages.

R. T. has angel, where it is wanting in the improved text, and is supplied by the Primate, ver. 4, 8, 10, 12, 17.

¶ Thou art righteous, O Lord, R. T.

†† Or, thou Holy One, N. m. Beza, in one MS. found o ecoμevos, who shalt be, which the public version follows.

:

shed the blood of saints and of prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink of which they are worthy *." 7 And I heard a voice out of the altar †, saying, "Yea, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgements."

8

And the fourth angel poured out his phial upon the sun; and it was given him to burn mankind with fire. 9 And mankind were burned with great heat; and yet men blasphemed the name of God, that had power over these scourges; and repented not so as to give him glory.

10

And the fifth angel poured out his phial upon the throne of the beast and his kingdom became darkened: 11 and men gnawed their tongues for pain; and blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and their ulcers; and yet repented not of their deeds.

12

And the sixth angel poured out his phial upon the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the 13 way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, 14 and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, working miracles **, [which go forth] to the kings of the whole world ††, to gather them to the battle of that great day of the Almighty God. 15 ("Behold, I come as a thief. Happy is he that watcheth,

and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and ex16 pose his shame.") And¶¶ the spirits gathered the king's together into a place, called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon: that is, the mountain of Megiddo.

17

And the seventh angel poured out his phial into the

"That is, the mountain of Megiddo; a city famous for slaughter, Judg. v. 19, 2 Kings ix. 27; for the defeat of King Josiah, 2 Kings xxiji. 29; and for great mourning, Zech. xii, 11." Newcome.

air; and a loud voice came from the temple [of heaven], 18 even from the throne, saying, "It is accomplished." And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as had not been since men were upon the earth, so great and mighty an earth19 quake. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and the great Babylon was remembered before God, so that he gave her the cup 20 of the wine of the fierceness of his anger. And every 21 island fled away; and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone as it were the weight of a talent and men blasphemed God because of the scourge of the hail; for the scourge of it was very great.

CH. XVII. Then one of the seven angels, that had the seven

phials, came and talked to me, saying, "Come hither, I will shew thee the judgement of the great harlot, who 2 sitteth upon the many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication; and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the earth have 3 been made drunk." So he carried me away in the spirit into a desert † and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, and had 4 seven heads, and ten horns. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, and had in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her for5 nication; and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, THE GREAT BABYLON, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS 6 AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus: and when I saw her, 7 I wondered with great wonder. And the angel said unto me, "Why didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the my

* saying to me, R. T.

† the desert, N.