Revelation 7:3-8

7:3 “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants ¹  of our God.” 7:4 Now ²  I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, ³  one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all ⁴  the tribes of the people of Israel: ⁵ 

7:5 From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand,

7:6 from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand,

7:7 from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand,

7:8 from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

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¹ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.

³ tn Grk “who were sealed.”

⁴ tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.

⁵ tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” normally an idiom for the Israelites as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58). However, many scholars understand the expression in this context to refer to Christians rather than ethnic Israelites.