The Two Witnesses

Revelation 11

1 Then I was given m a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure n the court outside the temple; leave that out, for o it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for p forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for p 1,260 days, q clothed in sackcloth."

4 These are r the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, s fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, t this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power u to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and v to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, w the beast that rises from x the bottomless pit 1 y will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically 2 is called z Sodom and a Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and b refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and c those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and d exchange presents, because these two prophets e had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days f a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, g "Come up here!" And h they went up to heaven i in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was j a great earthquake, and k a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and l gave glory to m the God of heaven.

14 n The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

  1. Cross References
    Revelation 21:15 - 16
    And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.
    Ezekiel 40:3
    When he brought me there, behold, there was a man whose appearance was like bronze, with a linen cord and a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway.
    Zechariah 2:1
    And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand!
  2. Cross References
    Ezekiel 40:17
    Then he brought me into the outer court. And behold, there were chambers and a pavement, all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement.
    Ezekiel 40:20
    As for the gate that faced toward the north, belonging to the outer court, he measured its length and its breadth.
  3. Cross References
    Luke 21:24
    They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
  4. Cross References
    Revelation 12:6
    And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
    Revelation 13:5
    And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.
  5. Cross References
    Revelation 11:2
    But do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 20:2
    At that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet," and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
  7. Cross References
    Zechariah 4:3
    And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.
    Zechariah 4:11
    Then I said to him, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?
    Zechariah 4:14
    Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
    Psalms 52:8
    But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
    Jeremiah 11:16
    The Lord once called you 'a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.' But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed.
  8. Cross References
    2 Kings 1:10
    But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
    2 Kings 1:12
    But Elijah answered them, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
    Jeremiah 5:14
    Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: "Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
  9. Cross References
    Numbers 16:29
    If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me.
    Numbers 16:35
    And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.
  10. Cross References
    1 Kings 17:1
    Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.
    Luke 4:25
    But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land.
    James 5:17
    Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
  11. Cross References
    Exodus 7:1 - 10:1
    And the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
    1 Samuel 4:8
    Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness.
  12. Cross References
    Revelation 17:8
    The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
    Revelation 13:1
    And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
  13. Cross References
    Revelation 9:1
    And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
  14. Cross References
    Daniel 7:21
    As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:10
    Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
    Isaiah 3:9
    For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.
  16. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:3
    They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled.
    Ezekiel 23:8
    She did not give up her whoring that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her.
    Ezekiel 23:19
    Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt
    Ezekiel 23:27
    Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.
  17. Cross References
    Psalms 79:2 - 3
    They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the heavens for food, the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
  18. Cross References
    John 16:20
    Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
    Revelation 3:10
    Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
  19. Cross References
    Nehemiah 8:10
    Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
    Nehemiah 8:12
    And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
    Esther 9:19
    Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.
    Esther 9:22
    As the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
  20. Cross References
    1 Kings 18:17
    When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?
  21. Cross References
    Genesis 2:7
    Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
    Ezekiel 37:5
    Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
    Ezekiel 37:9 - 10
    Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God : Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.
    Ezekiel 37:14
    And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord ; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.
  22. Cross References
    Revelation 4:1
    After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.
  23. Cross References
    Revelation 12:5
    She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
    2 Kings 2:11
    And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
  24. Cross References
    Acts 1:9
    And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
  25. Cross References
    Revelation 6:12
    When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood.
  26. Cross References
    Revelation 16:19
    The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
  27. Cross References
    Revelation 14:7
    And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.
    Revelation 16:9
    They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
    Revelation 19:7
    Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.
    Joshua 7:19
    Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.
  28. Cross References
    2 Chronicles 36:23
    "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.'"
  29. Cross References
    Revelation 8:13
    Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!
    Revelation 9:12
    The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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