15:1 Then 6 I saw another great and astounding sign in heaven: seven angels who have seven final plagues 7 (they are final because in them God’s anger is completed).
16:1 Then 9 I heard a loud voice from the temple declaring to the seven angels: “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.” 10
17:1 Then 11 one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me. 12 “Come,” he said, “I will show you the condemnation and punishment 13 of the great prostitute who sits on many waters,
1 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
2 tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”
3 sn Some interpret the seven spirits of God as angelic beings, while others see them as a reference to the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit.
4 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
5 tn The words “just then” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
7 tn Grk “seven plagues – the last ones.”
8 tn Grk “power, and no one.” A new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “thus” to indicate the implied result of the temple being filled with smoke.
9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
10 tn Or “anger.” Here τοῦ θυμοῦ (tou qumou) has been translated as a genitive of content.
11 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
12 tn Grk “with me.” The translation “with me” implies that John was engaged in a dialogue with the one speaking to him (e.g., Jesus or an angel) when in reality it was a one-sided conversation, with John doing all the listening. For this reason, μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ (met’ emou, “with me”) was translated as “to me.”
13 tn Here one Greek term, κρίμα (krima), has been translated by the two English terms “condemnation” and “punishment.” See BDAG 567 s.v. 4.b, “mostly in an unfavorable sense, of the condemnatory verdict and sometimes the subsequent punishment itself 2 Pt 2:3; Jd 4…τὸ κ. τῆς πόρνης the condemnation and punishment of the prostitute Rv 17:1.”