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The Lamb and the 144,000

¹ Then I saw the Lamb standing on Zion Mountain. He was surrounded by 144,000 cowboys who had his brand on their foreheads. ² I heard a sound coming from heaven that sounded like thunder mixed with powerful ocean waves breaking against a rocky shore. At the same time, it sounded like a million stringed instruments playing in unison.

³ A great ensemble of cowboys sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God, the twenty-four old bosses and the four living creatures. No one knew the song except for the 144,000. ⁴ They have kept themselves pure as virgins, riding for the Lord down every trail he went. This great host of cowboys was purchased from all the inhabitants of the earth as a special offering to God and to the Lamb. ⁵ These cowboys have told no lies and are without blame.

Tres Angels

⁶ Then I saw a great angel flying in the air. He told the good news to the whole world. ⁷ "Do not cower or be afraid!" he shouted. "Give glory to God, for the time has arrived for him to sit and judge the world. Worship the one who made it all."

⁸ A second angel followed the first saying, "She's been yard-darted! The great Babylon has been bucked off and rises no more. She was a whore who intoxicated mankind with her passions."

⁹ A third angel appeared behind the other two, trumpeting with a loud voice, "Those with the brand of the beast on their hand or forehead ¹⁰ will drink the hard liquor of God's fury, which is his anger against those he did so much for, but was repaid with evil. Those with the brand of the beast will suffer in fire and sulfur before the angels and the Lamb. ¹¹ The smoke from that fire never goes out or loses its heat. There will be no relief, day or night for those who worship the beast and its image."

¹² Meanwhile, God's cowboys stand patient and steadfast, continuing to follow and worship the word of God and riding for Jesus.

¹³ Then a voice from heaven said, "Write this down: 'Great rewards for those who die from here on out in service of the Lord.'"

"It's true!" answers the Holy Spirit. "They will enjoy rest from the hard ride because what they have reaped, they will now sow forever in perfection."

A Time of Harvest

¹⁴ Then I saw a cowboy sitting on a white cloud. He had a crown on his head and a sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ Another angel came from God's house and said to the one on the cloud, "Use your sickle and reap the harvest. The time has come to harvest the earth!" ¹⁶ The cowboy rose up and used the tool, and the earth's harvest was gathered.

¹⁷ Then another angel appeared with his own sharp sickle.

¹⁸ Still another angel appeared. He was the one in charge of the fire of the altar. His voice boomed as he said to the angel with the sharp sickle, "Use your tool and cut the grapes from the vines of the earth. They are ripe and ready for harvest." ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle on the earth, and all the grapes were thrown into the distillery of God's furious anger. ²⁰ The grapes were squeezed out in the press outside the city and blood flowed for two hundred miles at five feet deep.