Revelation 11:3-15

11:3 And I will grant my two witnesses authority¹ to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth. 11:4 (These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.)² 11:5 If³ anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths⁴ and completely consumes⁵ their enemies. If⁶ anyone wants to harm them, they must be killed this way. 11:6 These two have the power⁷ to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the time⁸ they are prophesying. They⁹ have power¹⁰ to turn the waters to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague whenever they want. 11:7 When¹¹ they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war on them and conquer¹² them and kill them. 11:8 Their¹³ corpses will lie in the street¹⁴ of the great city that is symbolically¹⁵ called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also crucified. 11:9 For three and a half days those from every¹⁶ people, tribe,¹⁷ nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb.¹⁸ 11:10 And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, even sending gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. 11:11 But¹⁹ after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and tremendous fear seized²⁰ those who were watching them. 11:12 Then²¹ they²² heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here!” So the two prophets²³ went up to heaven in a cloud while²⁴ their enemies stared at them. 11:13 Just then²⁵ a major earthquake took place and a tenth of the city collapsed; seven thousand people²⁶ were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

11:14 The second woe has come and gone;²⁷ the third is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet

11:15 Then²⁸ the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:

“The kingdom of the world

has become the kingdom of our Lord

and of his Christ,²⁹

and he will reign for ever and ever.”

¹tn The word “authority” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. “Power” would be another alternative that could be supplied here.

²sn This description is parenthetical in nature.

³tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁴tn This is a collective singular in Greek.

⁵tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”

⁶tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁷tn Or “authority.”

⁸tn Grk “the days.”

⁹tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁰tn Or “authority.”

¹¹tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹²tn Or “be victorious over”; traditionally, “overcome.”

¹³tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁴tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

¹⁵tn Grk “spiritually.”

¹⁶tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.

¹⁷tn The Greek term καί (kai) has not been translated before this and the following items in the list, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

¹⁸tn Or “to be buried.”

¹⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

²⁰tn Grk “fell upon.”

²¹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

²²tn Though the nearest antecedent to the subject of ἤκουσαν (hkousan) is the people (“those who were watching them”), it could also be (based on what immediately follows) that the two prophets are the ones who heard the voice.

²³tn Grk “they”; the referent (the two prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁴tn The conjunction καί (kai) seems to be introducing a temporal clause contemporaneous in time with the preceding clause.

²⁵tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

²⁶tn Grk “seven thousand names of men.”

²⁷tn Grk “has passed.”

²⁸tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

²⁹tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”