1. I was then given a stick that looked like a measuring rod, and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshipping in the temple.
2. But do not measure the outer courts, because they have been given to the heathen, who will trample on the Holy City for 42 months.
3. I will send my two witnesses dressed in sackcloth, and they will proclaim God's message during those 1,260 days.”
4. The two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the earth.
5. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and destroys their enemies; and in this way, whoever tries to harm them will be killed.
6. They have authority to shut up the sky so that there will be no rain during the time they proclaim God's message. They have authority also over the springs of water, to turn them into blood; they have authority also to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
7. When they finish proclaiming their message, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will fight against them. He will defeat them and kill them,
8. and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, where their Lord was crucified. The symbolic name of that city is Sodom, or Egypt.
9. People from all nations, tribes, languages, and races will look at their bodies for three and a half days and will not allow them to be buried.