1. After these things I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree. 2. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea;

3. Saying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. 4. And I heard the number of those sealed; a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe [of the sons]* of Israel. 5. Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand sealed. 6. Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand sealed. 7. Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand sealed. 8. Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed. 9. After these things I saw, and behold a great multitude, which no one could number, out of every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palms in their hands. 10. And crying with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11. And all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four animals, and they fell before the throne upon their faces, and worshiped God. 12. Saying, Amen: the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength unto our God unto the ages of the ages; amen. 13. And one of the elders answered, saying to me, These clothed with the white robes, who are they, and whence came they? 14. And I said unto him, Lord, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they who come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell over them. 16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat. 17. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall guide them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. EXPOSITION

Verse 1. And after these things I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree. 1. "And after these things I saw," signifies a new perception as to the state of heaven before the Last Judgment (n. 416); "four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth," signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord in the whole spiritual world (n. 417); "holding the four winds of the earth," signifies moderation of its influx (n. 418); "that the wind should not blow," signifies that the good be not injured, and the evil be not cast out before the day (n. 419); "upon the earth nor upon the sea nor upon any tree," signifies everywhere in the spiritual world, even to its ultimates, with those who have some perception (n. 420). * "Of the sons" is lacking in the Latin here, also in the edition of Schmidius as used by Swedenborg; but it is found in all Greek MSS. It is also omitted in the Arcana Coelestia, n. 3272, 3858, 4592, etc, and in SS 11, but found in AE n. 39.