“Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
Parallel translations
- WEB saying, “Don’t harm the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!”
- KJV Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
- NKJV saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
- NASB saying, “Do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”
- NLT “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”
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 angel commands that no harm come until God's servants are sealed on their foreheads. God's people are marked as His own before judgment proceeds.
Overview
The sealing recalls Ezekiel 9, where a mark on the forehead spared the faithful from judgment. It signifies that believers belong to God and are kept safe spiritually amid the trials of the age. This divine ownership guarantees their final preservation, even if they suffer outwardly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 25
- Ezek 9:4“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”
- Rev 22:4They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
- Rev 9:4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
- Rev 13:16And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
- Rev 14:1Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
- Exod 12:13The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
- Rev 20:4Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
- Isa 26:20–21Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.
- Isa 54:17No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.
- Rev 6:6And I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine.”
- Mal 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
- Exod 12:23When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
- Rev 19:2For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.”
- Zeph 2:3Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth who carry out His justice. Seek righteousness; seek humility. Perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
- Matt 24:22If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
- Isa 6:13And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
- Isa 65:8This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all.
- John 12:26If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
- Exod 9:4–6But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’”
- Isa 27:8By warfare and exile You contended with her and removed her with a fierce wind, as on the day the east wind blows.
- Dan 3:26Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the door of the blazing fiery furnace and called out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire,
- Dan 3:17If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.
- Dan 6:16So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
- Matt 24:31And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
- Rom 6:22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life.
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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 7:3 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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