¹³ Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ·Blessed [or Happy] are the dead who die from now on in the Lord.”

The Spirit says, “Yes, they will rest from their hard work, ·and the reward of all they have done stays with them [^Lfor their deeds will follow them].”

The Earth Is Harvested

¹⁴ Then I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and sitting on the white cloud was One who looked like a ·Son of Man [or human being; ^Ca designation Jesus applied to himself; Dan. 7:13–14]. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle [^Ca curved blade used to harvest grain] in his hand. ¹⁵ Then another angel came out of the temple and called out in a loud voice to the One who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and ·harvest [reap] from the earth, because the time to ·harvest [reap] has come, ·and [^Lbecause] the ·fruit [^Lharvest] of the earth is ripe.”