The people in heaven praise God
1 After these things, I heard a sound like the voices of a great crowd of people in heaven. They were shouting,
‘Praise the Lord our God!
He has saved us!
He is very powerful!
We say that he is great!
2 Everything that he decides is right and fair.
He has punished that great prostitute.
She led people on the earth to do wicked things.
She murdered God's servants with her own hands.
But now God has punished her as she deserves.’
19:2Babylon and other wicked cities are like a prostitute. They cause people to turn away from God, so that they are not faithful to him.
3 Then the crowd of people in heaven shouted again,
‘Praise the Lord our God!
The smoke from the fire that burns that city will go up for ever.’
4 The 24 leaders and the four beings that are alive then threw themselves down on the ground. They worshipped God, who was sitting on the throne. They said, ‘It is true! Praise the Lord God!’
5 Then a voice spoke from the throne. It said,
‘All of you who are God's servants,
praise our God!
All of you who respect God's power, worship him!
Important people and ordinary people should worship him!’
6 Then I heard a sound like the noise of a very big crowd that was shouting. The sound was like the noise of water that pours quickly along a river. It was like the noise of loud thunder. The crowd of people shouted,
‘Praise the Lord our God!
He rules with all power and authority!
7 We must shout with joy because we are so happy!
We will say that God is great!
The time has come for the Lamb's wedding party.
His bride has prepared herself.
8 God has given her linen clothes to wear that are bright and clean.’
These special linen clothes show the good things that God's holy people have done.
19:8God's people are clean and pure because Jesus, the Lamb, died in their place as a sacrifice.
9 Then the angel said to me, ‘Write down this message: “There will be a special meal at the Lamb's wedding party. God has truly blessed those people that he has asked to come to that meal.” ’ The angel also said to me, ‘This is a true message from God.’
10 Then I bent down low at the angel's feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am only a servant of God, the same as you are. I am a servant, like all believers who show clearly that they trust in Jesus. God is the one that you should worship! When God gave a message to his prophets, it was Jesus that they spoke about.’
