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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
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Rev 16 V1 V2 V3 V4 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21
OET (OET-LV) And I_heard from_the messenger of_the waters saying:
righteous you_are, the one being, and the one was, devout one, because these things you_judged.
OET (OET-RV) Then I heard the messenger who was in charge of those waters say to God, “You are righteous, the one who exists now and in the past, the HOLY one, because you have judged these.
In this section, each of the seven angels in turn poured God’s wrath from his bowl. Each angel caused a different plague to happen on the earth. The people of the earth suffered greatly from the plagues, but they refused to repent.
Other examples of headings for this section are:
The seven angels poured God’s wrath from seven bowls
The seven bowls of God’s anger
And I heard the angel of the waters say:
Then I heard the angel of the water of the earth say,
Then I heard the angel with the authority over all water say to God,
the angel of the waters: The Greek phrase that the BSB literally translates as the angel of the waters indicates that this angel probably had authority over all the rivers, lakes, and oceans. For example:
the angel who had authority over all water (NLT)
say: This angel spoke to God. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly imply that he spoke to someone else. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain the meaning in your translation. For example:
say to God
“Righteous are You, O Holy One, who is and was,
“Holy One, you who are and were, you are right/just,
“Sacred/Unique One, who exists now and who has always existed, you are righteous,
Righteous are You, O Holy One, who is and was: The angel addressed God with the title O Holy One. But this title is in the middle of what he said to God. In some languages the title must be in a different place. For example:
Holy One, you who are and who were,
O Holy One, who are and were (NRSV)
Righteous are You: The Greek clause is literally “You are righteous.” It indicates that God was right to send these plagues to show that he has judged the people to be bad. Other ways to translate this clause are:
You are just (NRSV)
You are righteous in sending these plagues
You are the Upright One (NJB)
O Holy One: This title is addressed to God. Here the word Holy indicates that God is perfect and unique. He only does what is right. He is different from all other beings. Other ways to translate this word are:
the sacred/divine One
you are the pure/unique/separate One
See how you translated the word Holy in 15:4.
who is and was: These words indicates that God is eternal. Other ways to translate these words are:
the One who is and was
you who exist and who always existed
you exist and always existed
See how you translated a similar phrase in 11:17 (“the One who is and who was”).
because You have brought these judgments.
because you judged them in these ways.
for you have sent these judgments against them.
because: There are two ways to interpret the Greek conjunction here:
It introduces why God is righteous (16:5b). For example:
for (NJB) (BSB, NIV, NJB, ESV, NRSV, NASB, KJV, NLT, GW, NET)
It introduces how God is righteous (16:5b). For example:
You are just in these your judgements (REB) (RSV, NIV11, NABRE, REB)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the lexicons support it.Aune, Beale, Lenski, Osbourne, and Smalley also support interpretation (1).
You have brought these judgments: The Greek clause is literally “you judged these (things).” It indicates that God saw the evil things that people did and decided that the seven plagues were the proper punishment. Other ways to translate this clause are:
you have judged the evil deeds of the people
you have sent these judgments (NLT)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῶν ὑδάτων
˱from˲_the angel ˱of˲_the waters
John is using this possessive form to indicate that God had given this angel authority over the waters (the rivers and springs) and responsibility for maintaining them. The angel is affirming that God has done the right thing even though this has damaged the waters. Alternate translation: [the angel who was responsible for the waters]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person
ὁ ὢν, καὶ ὁ ἦν, ὁ Ὅσιος
the_‹one› the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἤκουσα τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῶν ὑδάτων λέγοντος Δίκαιος εἶ ὁ ὤν καί ὁ ἦν ὅσιος ὅτι ταῦτα ἔκρινας)
Even though the angel is addressing God, the angel is speaking about God in the third person. You could make this clear by using the word “you” in your translation. Alternate translation: [you who are and who were, you who are holy]
Note 3 topic: translate-textvariants
ὁ ὢν, καὶ ὁ ἦν, ὁ Ὅσιος
the_‹one› the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἤκουσα τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῶν ὑδάτων λέγοντος Δίκαιος εἶ ὁ ὤν καί ὁ ἦν ὅσιος ὅτι ταῦτα ἔκρινας)
Some ancient manuscripts read the one being and the one who was, the Holy One. ULT follows that reading. Other ancient manuscripts read “O Lord, the one being and the one who was and who is to be.” If a translation of the Bible exists in your region, you may wish to use the reading that it uses. If a translation of the Bible does not exist in your region, you may wish to use the reading of ULT.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
ὁ Ὅσιος
the_‹one› the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἤκουσα τοῦ ἀγγέλου τῶν ὑδάτων λέγοντος Δίκαιος εἶ ὁ ὤν καί ὁ ἦν ὅσιος ὅτι ταῦτα ἔκρινας)
The angel is using the adjective Holy as a noun. He is referring to God by one of his essential attributes. ULT adds the word One to show that. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this word with an equivalent phrase. Alternate translation: [the Holy God]
Note 5 topic: writing-pronouns
ταῦτα
these_‹things›
The pronoun these refers to the people who have killed the saints and prophets, as the angel describes in the next verse. It may be helpful to clarify this for your readers. Alternate translation: [these people]
16:1-21 These seven bowls filled with God’s wrath represent the final judgments on the world; with the seventh bowl, “It is finished!” is shouted from God’s throne (16:17; cp. John 19:30).
OET (OET-LV) And I_heard from_the messenger of_the waters saying:
righteous you_are, the one being, and the one was, devout one, because these things you_judged.
OET (OET-RV) Then I heard the messenger who was in charge of those waters say to God, “You are righteous, the one who exists now and in the past, the HOLY one, because you have judged these.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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