The 144,000 People of Israel

Revelation 7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so that no wind should blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree. ²And I saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given the power to damage the earth and the sea. ³The angel said, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads." ⁴And I was told that the number of those who were marked with God's seal on their foreheads was 144,000. They were from the twelve tribes of Israel, ^5-8twelve thousand from each tribe: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

The Enormous Crowd

⁹After this I looked, and there was an enormous crowd--no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰They called out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!" ¹¹All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. Then they threw themselves face downward in front of the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying, "Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!"
¹³One of the elders asked me, "Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where do they come from?"
¹⁴"I don't know, sir. You do," I answered.
He said to me, "These are the people who have come safely through the terrible persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵That is why they stand before God's throne and serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will protect them with his presence. ¹⁶Never again will they hunger or thirst; neither sun nor any scorching heat will burn them, ¹⁷because the Lamb, who is in the center of the throne, will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

The People Sign an Agreement

Nehemiah 9 ³⁸Because of all that has happened, we, the people of Israel, hereby make a solemn written agreement, and our leaders, our Levites, and our priests put their seals to it.
Nehemiah 10 The first to sign was the governor, Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, and then Zedekiah signed. The following also signed:

^2-8Priests:
Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah,
Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch,
Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
Maaziah, Bilgai, and Shemaiah.

^9-13Levites:
Jeshua son of Azaniah,
Binnui of the clan of Henadad,
Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Hodiah,
Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan,
Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah,
Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah,
Hodiah, Bani, and Beninu.

^14-27Leaders of the people:
Parosh, Pahath Moab,
Elam, Zattu, Bani,
Bunni, Azgad, Bebai,
Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin,
Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur,
Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai,
Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai,
Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir,
Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua,
Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah,
Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub,
Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek,
Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah,
Ahiah, Hanan, Anan,
Malluch, Harim, and Baanah.

The Agreement

²⁸We, the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the Temple guards, the Temple musicians, the Temple workers, and all others who in obedience to God's Law have separated themselves from the foreigners living in our land, we, together with our wives and all our children old enough to understand, ²⁹do hereby join with our leaders in an oath, under penalty of a curse if we break it, that we will live according to God's Law, which God gave through his servant Moses; that we will obey all that the LORD, our Lord, commands us; and that we will keep all his laws and requirements.
³⁰We will not intermarry with the foreigners living in our land.
³¹If foreigners bring grain or anything else to sell to us on the Sabbath or on any other holy day, we will not buy from them.
Every seventh year we will not farm the land, and we will cancel all debts.
³²Every year we will each contribute one-eighth of an ounce of silver to help pay the expenses of the Temple.
³³We will provide for the Temple worship the following: the sacred bread, the daily grain offering, the animals to be burned each day as sacrifices, the sacred offerings for Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other festivals, the other sacred offerings, the offerings to take away the sins of Israel, and anything else needed for the Temple.
³⁴We, the people, priests, and Levites, will draw lots each year to determine which clans are to provide wood to burn the sacrifices offered to the LORD our God, according to the requirements of the Law.
³⁵We will take to the Temple each year an offering of the first grain we harvest and of the first fruit that ripens on our trees.
³⁶The first son born to each of us we will take to the priests in the Temple and there, as required by the Law, dedicate him to God. We will also dedicate the first calf born to each of our cows, and the first lamb or kid born to each of our sheep or goats.
³⁷We will take to the priests in the Temple the dough made from the first grain harvested each year and our other offerings of wine, olive oil, and all kinds of fruit.
We will take to the Levites, who collect tithes in our farming villages, the tithes from the crops that grow on our land. ³⁸Priests who are descended from Aaron are to be with the Levites when tithes are collected, and for use in the Temple the Levites are to take to the Temple storerooms one-tenth of all the tithes they collect. ³⁹The people of Israel and the Levites are to take the contributions of grain, wine, and olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils for the Temple are kept and where the priests who are on duty, the Temple guards, and the members of the Temple choir have their quarters.
We will not neglect the house of our God.

The Prayer of a Troubled Youth

Psalm 102 Listen to my prayer, O LORD,
and hear my cry for help!
²When I am in trouble,
don't turn away from me!
Listen to me,
and answer me quickly when I call!

³My life is disappearing like smoke;
my body is burning like fire.
⁴I am beaten down like dry grass;
I have lost my desire for food.
⁵I groan aloud;
I am nothing but skin and bones.
⁶I am like a wild bird in the desert,
like an owl in abandoned ruins.
⁷I lie awake;
I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.
⁸All day long my enemies insult me;
those who mock me use my name in cursing.

^9-10Because of your anger and fury,
ashes are my food,
and my tears are mixed with my drink.
You picked me up and threw me away.
¹¹My life is like the evening shadows;
I am like dry grass.

¹²But you, O LORD, are king forever;
all generations will remember you.
¹³You will rise and take pity on Zion;
the time has come to have mercy on her;
this is the right time.
¹⁴Your servants love her,
even though she is destroyed;
they have pity on her,
even though she is in ruins.

¹⁵The nations will fear the LORD;
all the kings of the earth will fear his power.
¹⁶When the LORD rebuilds Zion,
he will reveal his greatness.
¹⁷He will hear his forsaken people
and listen to their prayer.

¹⁸Write down for the coming generation what the LORD has done,
so that people not yet born will praise him.
¹⁹The LORD looked down from his holy place on high,
he looked down from heaven to earth.
²⁰He heard the groans of prisoners
and set free those who were condemned to die.
²¹And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion,
and he will be praised in Jerusalem
²²when nations and kingdoms come together
and worship the LORD.

²³The LORD has made me weak while I am still young;
he has shortened my life.
²⁴O God, do not take me away now
before I grow old.

O LORD, you live forever;
²⁵long ago you created the earth,
and with your own hands you made the heavens.
²⁶They will disappear, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like clothes.
You will discard them like clothes,
and they will vanish.
²⁷But you are always the same,
and your life never ends.
²⁸Our children will live in safety,
and under your protection
their descendants will be secure.