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13 Then[a] I saw three unclean spirits[b] that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth[c] to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful.[d]

15 (Look ! I will come like a thief!
Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose[e] his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition[f] be seen.)[g]

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 16:13 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
  2. Revelation 16:13 sn According to the next verse, these three unclean spirits are spirits of demons.
  3. Revelation 16:14 tn BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 1 states, “the inhabited earth, the worldὅλη ἡ οἰκ. the whole inhabited earthMt 24:14; Ac 11:28; Rv 3:10; 16:14.”
  4. Revelation 16:14 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…() κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π.…Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”
  5. Revelation 16:15 tn Grk “and keeps.” BDAG 1002 s.v. τηρέω 2.c states “of holding on to someth. so as not to give it up or lose it…τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ Rv 16:15 (or else he will have to go naked).”
  6. Revelation 16:15 tn On the translation of ἀσχημοσύνη (aschēmosunē) as “shameful condition” see L&N 25.202. The indefinite third person plural (“and they see”) has been translated as a passive here.
  7. Revelation 16:15 sn These lines are parenthetical, forming an aside to the narrative. The speaker here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself rather than the narrator. Many interpreters have seen this verse as so abrupt that it could not be an original part of the work, but the author has used such asides before (1:7; 14:13) and the suddenness here (on the eve of Armageddon) is completely parallel to Jesus’ warning in Mark 13:15-16 and parallels.