Isaiah's Commission

   In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw THE LORD seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of HIS robe filled the temple. Above HIM were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

       "Holy, holy, holy is THE LORD ALMIGHTY;

          the whole earth is full of HIS glory."

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

       "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen THE KING, THE LORD ALMIGHTY."

       Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

       Then I heard the voice of THE LORD saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

       And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

       HE said, "Go and tell this people:

       " 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

          be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'

       Make the heart of this people calloused;

          make their ears dull

          and close their eyes.

       Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

          hear with their ears,

          understand with their hearts,

       and turn and be healed."

       Then I said, "For how long, O LORD?"

       And HE answered:

       "Until the cities lie ruined

          and without inhabitant,

       until the houses are left deserted

          and the fields ruined and ravaged,

       until THE LORD has sent everyone far away

          and the land is utterly forsaken.

       And though a tenth remains in the land,

          it will again be laid waste.

       But as the terebinth and oak

          leave stumps when they are cut down,

          so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

Isaiah: chapter 6

The Living Creatures and the Glory of THE LORD

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of GOD.

       On the fifth of the month--it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin--the word of THE LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of THE LORD was upon him.

       I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north--an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.

       Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.

       As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.

       When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

       Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome. Under the expanse their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of THE ALMIGHTY, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

       Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be HIS waist up HE looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down HE looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded HIM. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around HIM.

       This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of THE LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Ezekiel: chapter 1

The Throne in Heaven

   After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And THE ONE who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

       In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

                     "Holy, holy, holy

              is THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,

       who was, and is, and is to come."

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to HIM who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before HIM who sits on the throne, and worship HIM who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

       "YOU are worthy, our LORD and GOD,

          to receive glory and honor and power,

       for YOU created all things,

          and by YOUR will they were created

          and have their being."

Revelation: chapter 4

The Scroll and THE LAMB

   Then I saw in the right hand of HIM who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, THE ROOT OF DAVID, has triumphed. HE is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

       Then I saw a LAMB, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. HE had seven horns and seven eyes, which are THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD sent out into all the earth. HE came and took the scroll from the right hand of HIM who sat on the throne. And when HE had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before THE LAMB. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:

       "YOU are worthy to take the scroll

          and to open its seals,

       because YOU were slain,

          and with YOUR blood YOU purchased men for GOD

          from every tribe and language and people and nation.

       YOU have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our GOD,

          and they will reign on the earth."

       Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:

       "Worthy is THE LAMB, who was slain,

       to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

       and honor and glory and praise!"

       Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

       "To HIM who sits on the throne and to THE LAMB

       be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"

The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Revelation: chapter 5

The Seals

   I watched as THE LAMB opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

       When THE LAMB opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

       When THE LAMB opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

       When THE LAMB opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

       When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of GOD and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, SOVEREIGN LORD, holy and true, until YOU judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

       I watched as HE opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

       Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of HIM who sits on the throne and from the wrath of THE LAMB! For the great day of THEIR wrath has come, and who can stand?"

Revelation: chapter 6

144,000 Sealed

   After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of THE LIVING GOD. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our GOD." Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

   From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

   from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

   from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

   from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

   from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

   from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

   from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

   from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

   from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

   from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

   from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

   from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

Revelation: chapter 7, verses 1 - 8

The Great Multitude in White Robes

       After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of THE LAMB. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

       "Salvation belongs to our GOD,

       who sits on the throne,

       and to THE LAMB."

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped GOD, saying:

       "Amen!

       Praise and glory

       and wisdom and thanks and honor

       and power and strength

       be to our GOD for ever and ever.

       Amen!"

       Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?"

       I answered, "Sir, you know."

       And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of THE LAMB. Therefore,

       "they are before the throne of GOD

          and serve HIM day and night in HIS temple;

       and HE who sits on the throne will spread HIS tent over them.

       Never again will they hunger;

          never again will they thirst.

       The sun will not beat upon them,

          nor any scorching heat.

       For THE LAMB at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;

          HE will lead them to springs of living water.

       And GOD will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Revelation: chapter 7, verses 9 - 17

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

   When HE opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

       And I saw the seven angels who stand before GOD, and to them were given seven trumpets.

       Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before GOD from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Revelation: chapter 8, verses 1 - 5

The Trumpets

       Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

       The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

       The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

       The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water--the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

       The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

       As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"

       The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of GOD on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

       The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

       The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

       The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before GOD. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.

       The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

       The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Revelation: chapter 8, verses 6 - 13 & chapter 9

The Angel and the Little Scroll

       Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down."

       Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by HIM who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of GOD will be accomplished, just as HE announced to HIS servants the prophets."

       Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."

       So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."

Revelation: chapter 10

The Two Witnesses

   I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of GOD and the altar, and count the worshipers there. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. And I will give power to MY two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before THE LORD of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

       Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their LORD was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

       But after the three and a half days a breath of life from GOD entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.

       At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to THE GOD OF HEAVEN.

       The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.

Revelation: chapter 11, verses 1 - 14

The Seventh Trumpet

       The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

       "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our LORD and of HIS CHRIST,

          and HE will reign for ever and ever."

And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before GOD, fell on their faces and worshiped GOD, saying:

       "We give thanks to YOU, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,

          THE ONE who is and who was,

       because YOU have taken YOUR great power

          and have begun to reign.

       The nations were angry;

          and YOUR wrath has come.

       The time has come for judging the dead,

          and for rewarding YOUR servants the prophets

       and YOUR saints and those who reverence YOUR name,

          both small and great--

       and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

       Then GOD'S temple in heaven was opened, and within HIS temple was seen the ark of HIS covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

Revelation: chapter 11, verses 15 - 19

The Woman and the Dragon

   A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to GOD and to HIS throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by GOD, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

       And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

       Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

       "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our GOD,

          and the authority of HIS CHRIST.

       For the accuser of our brothers,

          who accuses them before our GOD day and night,

          has been hurled down.

       They overcame him

          by the blood of THE LAMB

          and by the word of their testimony;

       they did not love their lives so much

          as to shrink from death.

       Therefore rejoice, you heavens

          and you who dwell in them!

       But woe to the earth and the sea,

          because the devil has gone down to you!

       He is filled with fury,

          because he knows that his time is short."

       When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey GOD'S commandments and hold to the testimony of JESUS. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.

Revelation: chapter 12 & chapter 13, verse 1

The Beast out of the Sea

       And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"

       The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme GOD, and to slander HIS name and HIS dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to THE LAMB that was slain from the creation of the world.

       He who has an ear, let him hear.

       If anyone is to go into captivity,

          into captivity he will go.

       If anyone is to be killed with the sword,

          with the sword he will be killed.

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.

Revelation: chapter 13, verses 1 - 10

The Beast out of the Earth

       Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

       This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.

Revelation: chapter 13, verses 11 - 18

THE LAMB and the 144,000

   Then I looked, and there before me was THE LAMB, standing on Mount Zion, and with HIM 144,000 who had HIS name and HIS FATHER'S name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow THE LAMB wherever HE goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to GOD and THE LAMB. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Revelation: chapter 14, verses 1 - 5