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Chapter 14

The Song of the Martyrs.[a] Next in my vision, I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand[b] people who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. I heard a sound from heaven like that of a mighty torrent or a loud peal of thunder. It was like the sound of harpists playing their harps.

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 14:1 The great hopes of the Prophets (e.g., Isa 2:1-5) are here realized; the new chosen people, in a full and perfect number, gather at Zion, the mount of definitive encounter with God. The martyrs sing the new song of deliverance and victory (see Ex 15:1-18; Pss 33:1-3; 98:1). It expresses the virginal joy of those who have remained faithful to God, those who have not committed falsehood, adultery, and fornication—i.e., in the language of the Bible, those who have not succumbed to the worship of false gods. They have not followed the emperor but only Christ. They have been, as it were, espoused to Christ (see Rev 19:9; 21:2; 2 Cor 11:2).
  2. Revelation 14:1 One hundred and forty-four thousand: that is, twelve thousand from each tribe.