Revelation 16 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter continues the vision that John began to describe in [chapter 15](../15/01.md). Together these two chapters describe the seven plagues that complete the wrath of God. (See: wrath)Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. The ULT does this with [verses 5–7](../16/05.md).

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Seven bowls of God’s wrath

This chapter reveals severe judgments. John pictures the execution of these judgments as angels pouring out seven bowls of God’s wrath. (See: figs-metaphor)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

- When John says that an angel “poured out his bowl,” he means that the angel poured out what was in his bowl. You can say that in your translation each time. (See: figs-metonymy) - In this chapter, John uses adjectives “first” through “seventh” as nouns to identify the angels who pour out the bowls of God’s wrath. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate these words with equivalent phrases, for example, “the first angel,” “the second angel,” and so forth. (See: figs-nominaladj) - If your language does not use ordinal numbers, you could use cardinal numbers for these angels, for example, “angel number one,” “angel number two,” and so forth. (See: translate-ordinal)