After the Lamb took the scroll, the four living beings and the 24 elders bowed down before the Lamb. Each one of them had a harp. Also, they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s holy people.
I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. All those who had won the victory over the beast and his idol and over the number of its name were standing by the sea. These people had harps that God had given them.
The seventh angel blew his trumpet. Then there were loud voices in heaven. The voices said, “The kingdom of the world has now become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah. And he will rule forever and ever.”
There the Glory of the God of Israel came from the east. God’s voice was loud like the sound of the sea. The ground was bright with the light from the Glory of God.
David and all the Israelites were dancing in front of the Lord and playing all kinds of musical instruments. There were lyres, harps, drums, rattles, instruments made from cypress wood, and cymbals.
On the morning of the third day, a thick cloud came down onto the mountain. There was thunder and lightning and a very loud sound from a trumpet. All the people in the camp were frightened.
O Babylon, the music of people playing harps and other instruments, flutes and trumpets will never be heard in you again. No worker doing any job will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
Then the two witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven say, “Come up here!” And both of them went up into heaven in a cloud. Their enemies watched them go.
Then I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living beings speak with a voice like thunder. It said, “Come!”
The first angel blew his trumpet. Then hail and fire mixed with blood was poured down on the earth. And a third of the earth and all the green grass and a third of the trees were burned up.
The Lord will appear to them, and he will shoot his arrows like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and the army will rush forward like a desert dust storm.
And like the waves, they will rush away when God speaks harshly to them. They will be like chaff blown away by the wind. They will be like weeds chased by a storm.
During all this time, the people in the valley heard the thundering and saw the lightning on the mountain. They saw smoke rising from the mountain and heard the sound of the trumpet. They were afraid and shook with fear. They stood away from the mountain and watched.