And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
Parallel translations
- WEB They went up over the width of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them.
- KJV And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
- NKJV They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
- NASB And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
- NLT And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The hostile army surrounds the camp of the saints, but fire from heaven devours them. God Himself defeats the final assault.
Overview
The enemies encircle 'the beloved city,' the people of God, in a last attempt to destroy them. Without any battle, fire falls from heaven and consumes them, recalling God's judgments in the Old Testament. The effortless victory assures believers that God will protect His own and bring every rebellion to a swift, final end.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 30
- Ezek 38:16You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.
- Ezek 39:6I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD.
- Ezek 38:9You and all your troops, and many peoples with you will go up, advancing like a thunderstorm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
- Ezek 38:22I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
- 2 Th 1:8in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- Ps 106:18Then fire blazed through their company; flames consumed the wicked.
- Ps 125:1–2A song of ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.
- Ps 97:3Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes on every side.
- Lev 10:2–3So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.
- Ps 48:1–3A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain.
- Isa 8:7–8the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
- Num 11:1Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- 2 Kgs 1:10–15Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.
- Rev 11:5If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed.
- Luke 17:29But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
- Exod 9:23–24So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.
- Isa 37:36Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
- Num 16:35And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
- Rev 13:13And the second beast performed great signs to cause even fire from heaven to come down to earth in the presence of the people.
- Heb 13:13Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore.
- Mic 2:13One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate, and go out by it. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD as their leader.
- Hab 1:6For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.
- Luke 9:54When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”
- 2 Kgs 6:15When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?”
- Gen 19:24Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Isa 30:33For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
- Matt 16:16–18Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
- Luke 21:20But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you will know that her desolation is near.
- Ps 74:2–4Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance—Mount Zion where You dwell.
- Luke 19:43For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side.
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 20:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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