14:1 Then 1 I looked, and here was 2 the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 14:2 I also heard a sound 3 coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. Now 4 the sound I heard was like that made by harpists playing their harps, 14:3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No 5 one was able to learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.
14:4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves 6 with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb,
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
2 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
3 tn Or “a voice” (cf. Rev 1:15), but since in this context nothing is mentioned as the content of the voice, it is preferable to translate φωνή (fwnh) as “sound” here.
4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a new topic.
5 tn Grk “elders, and no one.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but because of the length and complexity of the sentence a new sentence was started here in the translation.
6 tn The aorist passive verb is rendered as a reflexive (“defiled themselves”) by BDAG 657 s.v. μολύνω 2.