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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 16

1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple declaring to the seven angels: “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.” 2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Then ugly and painful sores appeared on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.⁠ 3 Next, the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood, like that of a corpse, and every living creature that was in the sea died.⁠ 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood. 5 Now I heard the angel of the waters saying:⁠ “You are just—the one who is and who was, the Holy One—because you have passed these judgments, 6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets, so you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!”⁠ 7 Then I heard the altar reply, “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, your judgments are true and just!” 8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was permitted to scorch people with fire. 9 Thus people were scorched by the terrible heat, yet they blasphemed the name of God, who has ruling authority over these plagues, and they would not repent and give him glory. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that darkness covered his kingdom, and people began to bite their tongues because of their pain.⁠ 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, but nevertheless they still refused to repent of their deeds. 12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and dried up its water to prepare the way for the kings from the east.⁠ 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits 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 to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. 15 (Look! I will come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition be seen.) 16 Now the spirits gathered the kings and their armies to the place that is called Armageddon in Hebrew.⁠ 17 Finally the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying: “It is done!” 18 Then there were flashes of lightning, roaring, and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake—an⁠ earthquake unequaled since humanity has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. So Babylon the great was remembered before God and was given the cup filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath. 20 Every island fled away, and no mountains could be found. 21 And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a 100 pounds each, fell from heaven on people, but they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 49:26 and Revelation 16:6

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation’s description of enemies being given blood to drink recalls Isaiah’s description of Israel's oppressors eating their own flesh and becoming drunk on their own blood. Revelation reshapes this language to describe the final judgment.

Passages

Isaiah 49:26

Hebrew Bible
24 Can spoils be taken from a warrior, or captives be rescued from a conqueror? 25 Indeed,” says the Lord, “ captives will be taken from a warrior; spoils will be rescued from a conqueror. I will oppose your adversary and I will rescue your children. 26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. Then all humankind will recognize that I am the Lord, your Deliverer, your Protector, the Powerful One of Jacob.”
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Revelation 16:6

New Testament
3 Next, the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood, like that of a corpse, and every living creature that was in the sea died. 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood. 5 Now I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are just—the one who is and who was, the Holy One—because you have passed these judgments, 6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets, so you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!”
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... The chief exegetical problem here is to identify the αὐτοῖς, “to them.” Should they be identified with the unidentified third-person plural subject of ἐξέχεαν, “they poured out” (that is, the murderers), or with “the holy ones and prophets”? The phrase “to give someone blood to drink” can mean “to die” (Isaiah 49:26, “I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine”), in which case this phrase expresses the principle of lex talionis. But it more frequently means “to kill” (Revelation 17:6; Numbers 23:24; 2 Samuel 23:17; 1 Chronicles 11:19; Jeremiah 46:10; Ezekiel 39:17–19; Zechariah 9:15; 1 Enoch 7:5; Aeschylus' Choephori 577–78; Sophocles' Electra 1417–21; Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus 622; Greek Magical Papyri IV.2594–95, 2656–57). According to Charles, the meaning of this clause (which he renders “drink each other’s blood”) is that God will cause internecine war between Rome and her allies, yet the Johannine editor, he claims, did not understand this but took the clause to mean that as Rome shed the blood of Christians, so it will be forced to drink actual blood. Such internecine conflict is clear in 1 Enoch 7:5, but that is not what is said here in verse 6. Despite the parallels adduced above, it seems inappropriate to construe this clause to mean that God allows the saints and prophets to die ..."
David Aune, Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 6-16 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017), 1078.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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  • How do I pray Isaiah 49:25? 🙏

    Malini, June 23, 2025

Isaiah 49:26 and Revelation 16:6

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