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18 Again, another angel came from the altar where people offered gifts to God. This angel had authority for the fire on the altar.[a] He shouted with a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp knife. He told him, ‘Use your knife and cut the grapes off the earth's vine. The grapes are ready now to make wine.’

19 So the angel moved his sharp knife over the earth. He cut off the grapes which grew in the earth's vineyard. He threw the grapes into the winepress where God stamps on the grapes because he is very angry. 20 The winepress was outside the city. When God stamped on the grapes, the juice that came out of the winepress was blood.[b] The river of blood was very deep. It rose as high as horses' necks and it went as far as 300 kilometres.

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Footnotes

  1. 14:18 Fire destroys what the farmer does not need after the harvest.
  2. 14:20 God is showing how angry he is. He is angry with everyone who will not obey him. The grapes are like a picture of bad people. At the time when John was writing Revelation, this is how people made wine. They put the grapes in a big hole that they had cut in the rock. This was called a winepress. Then they walked on the grapes, to squeeze them. Pipes went out of the winepress. The juice from the grapes went out through the pipes. It was red like blood. This is a picture of how God will punish his enemies. So, in fact, John was describing the deaths of these people. See also Revelation 19:15 and Isaiah 63:3.