Angel with a Secret John Can’t Tell
1I saw another strong angel. Wrapped in a cloud, he descended from the sky. As he did, a rainbow hovered high over his head. His face glowed like the sun, and his legs burned bright like two pillars on fire. [1] 2He held a small, opened scroll [2] in his hand. He stepped onto the sea with his right foot and onto the land with his left foot. [3]3Then he let out a yell like the roar of a lion. Seven thunders [4] answered him with their voices. 4As the seven thunders spoke, I started to write down their words. But a voice from heaven stopped me. I heard the voice say, “Seal those words inside your head and keep them to yourself. Don’t write them down.”
5Then the angel standing with one foot on land and the other on sea raised his right hand high in the air. 6He made an announcement. He swore that what he was about to say came from the immortal one who made sky, earth, and sea—and everything in them: “Time’s up!
7“When the seventh angel blows that seventh trumpet, God’s secret plan [5] for the world won’t be secret anymore. It will become a done deal, as he told the prophets earlier.” [6] 8The voice from heaven spoke to me again. The voice said, “Go over to the angel standing on land and sea. Take the open scroll the angel is holding.” 9So I went to the angel and asked for the scroll. The angel said, “Take this and eat it. [7] It’s going to taste sweet as honey in your mouth, but it’s going to give you a stomachache.” [8] 10I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand. I ate it, and sure enough it tasted sweet as honey in my mouth. But it soured my stomach something awful. 11They [9] told me, “You’ve got to go back and prophesy against [10] these people again. Warn people everywhere, as well as their kings. Warn them in nations all over the world, no matter what language they speak.”
