But while he was thinking about the matter, [suddenly] an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream [i.e., a supernatural revelation given during sleep], saying, "Joseph, you descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife, for the baby she is carrying is by [the power of] the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph woke up from his sleep and did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary to be his wife.

Now when they had gone an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a [supernatural] dream, saying, "Get up and take the young child and His mother and hurry to Egypt. Stay there for as long as I tell you to, for Herod will be looking for the young child in order to kill Him."

Then when Herod was dead, an angel from the Lord appeared in a [supernatural] dream to Joseph [while he was still] in Egypt, saying,

But when the leading priests and the experts in the law of Moses saw the wonderful things [i.e., miracles] He was performing and [heard] the children shouting in the Temple, "Hosanna to the son of David," [See note at verse 9], they were filled with anger [i.e., over the acclaim being given to Jesus].

Now there had been a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord had descended from heaven and, [having] come to roll away the stone, was [now] sitting on it.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified.

Just then an angel from the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the incense altar.

Zacharias became disturbed when he saw the angel and was gripped by fear.

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid Zacharias, for your earnest prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son and you will name him John.

And Zacharias said to the angel, "How will I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is [also] very old."

The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

Now in the sixth month [of Elizabeth's pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the Galilean town of Nazareth,

The angel came to her and said, "Greetings, you are someone greatly favored [i.e., by God]; the Lord is with you."

Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid Mary, for you have received favor from God.

And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have never had sex with a man?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest [i.e., God] will overshadow you. Therefore, the child you carry will be called the holy Son of God.

And Mary said, "Here I am, the Lord's slave-girl; let it happen to me according to what you say." Then the angel left her.

[Suddenly] an angel from the Lord [was seen] standing near them and the glorious presence of the Lord shone around them, and they were very afraid.

And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for look, I am bringing good news that will cause great joy to all people.

Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a large number of the heavenly "army" [i.e., of angels], who were praising God and saying,

And when they saw this, they told [everyone] what the angel had said about this baby.

Eight days later it was time to circumcise Jesus [i.e., to perform the Jewish rite of identity, signifying the responsibility to observe the law of Moses], and they named Him Jesus, which was the name given by the angel before He was [even] conceived.

It will be too bad for pregnant women and those who are nursing [babies] in those days! For there will be great distress in this land [i.e., Judea, and especially Jerusalem], and raging anger [will be shown] against these people [i.e., by the Roman armies].

Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. [See Matt. 4:11].

For an angel of the Lord came down to the pool [from heaven] at certain times and stirred up the water. Then the first person to enter the pool after the water became choppy was healed from whatever disease he had."}}

The crowd that was standing around heard this [i.e., the sound of the Father's voice], but said it was thunder. Others said, "An angel spoke to Him [i.e., Jesus]."

But an angel from the Lord one night [miraculously] opened the jail doors and released them, saying,

Then, as all the Council members stared at Stephen, his face appeared to them like an angel's.

"Then after [another] forty years passed, an angel appeared to him [one day] out of a flaming bush in the wilderness near Mt. Sinai.

But the Hebrews refused [to acknowledge Moses as their leader], saying, 'Who made you a ruler and judge [over us]?' [Nevertheless], God sent him [to Egypt] to be both a ruler and liberator [of the people] through the direction of [His] angel who appeared [to Moses] from the bush.

This is the man who was with our forefathers and with the assembly [of Hebrews] in the wilderness [after] the angel had spoken to him at Mt. Sinai. He [is the one] who received the living messages [from God at Mt. Sinai] and gave them to us.

[Meanwhile] an angel [sent] from the Lord spoke to Philip and said, "Get up and travel south on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza; that is a deserted region."

As he stared at [the angel] in fright, he asked, "What is it, Lord?" [Note: The word "Lord" here could also be translated "Sir," and its correct rendering depends on whether or not Cornelius understood the angel to be from God]. And the angel replied, "Your [continual] prayers and [generous] gifts to poor people have not gone unnoticed before God.

When the angel who spoke with him had left, Cornelius called two of his house servants and a soldier who was devoted [to God], men who worked for him regularly,

AM], while he was wide awake, he had a vision in which an angel of God came to him [and spoke his name] "Cornelius."

They said, "Cornelius, a [military] man in charge of one hundred soldiers, [and] a man who does what is right, [and] who respects God and who has a good reputation among all the Jews [who know him], was urged by God through a holy angel to have you come to his house so he could hear you speak [about salvation, See 11:14]."

and he told us about seeing an angel standing in his house and saying [to him] 'Send to Joppa for Simon Peter and bring him [here]

[Then it happened]: [Suddenly] an angel from the Lord stood beside Peter as a light shone into his cell. [The angel] gently struck his side, waking him up, saying, "Get up quickly." His chains fell from his hands.

The angel [then] said to him, "Put on your belt and sandals," so he did. Then the angel said, "Throw your [outer] robe around you and follow me."

So, he followed the angel out [of the jail], not fully realizing what had happened, thinking [perhaps] he had seen [all this in] a vision.

And when they passed the first two guards, they came to the iron gate leading out into the city, which opened by itself. So, they went out and, as they walked down the street, the angel [suddenly] left him.

Then when Peter realized what had actually happened, he said, "Now I know for certain that [it was] the Lord who sent His angel to rescue me from Herod's custody and from all that the Jewish people had planned [to do to me]."

And they said to her, "You are crazy." But she insisted that [what she reported] was true. They replied, "It is [only] his angel."

Suddenly, an angel from God struck him [with a terrible condition] because he refused to honor God [by what he said in his speech], so he was consumed by worms and died.

A loud commotion developed [in the Council meeting]. Some of the teachers of the law of Moses who belonged to the Pharisee party stood up and argued, saying, "We can find nothing wrong with this man. What if an angel or spirit did speak to him?"

I often persecuted them in the synagogues, [even] trying to get them to blaspheme [i.e., speak against God]. I had extreme anger toward them and [even] traveled to foreign cities [in my effort] to persecute them.

For an angel from God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, appeared to me last night,

For God's extreme anger is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who restrain the truth [from being known and obeyed] by their wickedness.

Neither should you people complain as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel [See Ex. 12:23?].

See how the very fact that you were made sorry from a godly motive has produced earnestness in you! [It produced] a desire to vindicate yourselves [i.e., by making amends for your wrongdoing]; an attitude of just anger [i.e., toward the wrongdoers]; a sense of fear [i.e., a fear of God for doing wrong]; an eager desire [i.e., to do the right thing]; a zeal [i.e., to correct problems]; and an attitude of avenging [i.e., that punished the wrongdoer]. You demonstrated in everything [you did] that you were pure [i.e., innocent] in this matter. [Note: This whole description of their conduct appears to be a reference to the incident mentioned in 2:1-11].

And it is no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light [i.e., someone pure and righteous].

Who is weak, and I do not feel their weakness? Who is led astray [from God], and I do not burn [i.e., with righteous anger over the one who caused it]?

However, if we [apostles] or even an angel [claiming to be] from heaven were to preach any other "gospel" than the one we have [already] preached to you, let that person be cut off from God's [salvation].

And when you could have been tempted to look down on me [because of the nature of my affliction], instead you welcomed me as [if I were] an angel, or even Christ Jesus Himself!

So, put away from you all [kinds of] bitterness and anger and wrath and brawling and slander, along with all [kinds of] malice [i.e., bad attitudes],

Do not allow anyone, who delights in acting humble [i.e., living an ascetic life] and who worships angels, to rob you of your reward [in heaven]. [Note: This "angel worship" could mean holding angels in high regard because of their role as God's messengers, or the claim that God can be approached only through angelic intermediaries]. He places great importance on what he [claims to] see [i.e., visions], being inflated with pride by his fleshly mind for no [good] reason.

But now you also should stop practicing them: anger, wrath, malice, slander, filthy language from your mouth.

For, to which angel did God ever say [Psa. 2:7], "You are my Son, today I have conceived you"? And again [II Sam. 7:14], "I will be His Father, and He will be my Son"?

So I vowed in my anger, 'They will not enter a state of rest with me.'"

Now we who have believed [will someday] enter that rest, even as God has said [Psa. 95:11], "So, I vowed in my anger, 'They will not enter a state of rest with me,'" although God's works were completed since the creation of the world.

By [having] faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the king's anger, for he endured [all the rigors of wandering in the desert] because he could see the invisible God.

For the anger of people does not produce what God considers to be right.

But, when the ruling angel Michael disputed with the devil over [the final disposal of] the body of Moses, [even] he did not dare to bring derogatory charges against him [i.e., the devil], but said, "May the Lord rebuke you." [Note: Some suggest that this account appeared in an apocryphal book, possibly "The Assumption of Moses"].

[This is the record of] the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave [Him] to show to His servants. [It contains] the things which were soon to happen, and Christ sent His angel [i.e., messenger] to inform His servant, [the apostle] John, [about them].

"Write [this] to the angel [i.e., the messenger] of the church at Ephesus [Note: These "messengers," (verses 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14) are thought by some to be evangelists]: These things are the words of the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:

"And write [this] to the angel of the church at Smyrna: These things are the words of the First and the Last [i.e., Jesus], who was dead, but has come [back] to life:

"And write [this] to the angel of the church at Pergamum: These are the words of Him who has the sharp double-edged sword:

"And write [this] to the angel of the church at Thyatira: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like flaming fire and feet like shiny brass:

"And write [this] to the angel of the church at Sardis: These are the words of Him who has the seven Spirits of God [i.e., Jesus, who has the Holy Spirit] and the seven stars [i.e., the seven angels of the seven churches. See 1:20]: I know about your deeds, that you have a reputation for being [spiritually] alive, but you are [really] dead.

"And write [this] to the angel of the church at Philadelphia: These are the words of Him who is holy and true, [and] who possesses the key [i.e., the power and authority] of King David, [and] who opens [a door] which no one will close, and who closes one that no one will open:

"Write [this] to the angel of the church at Laodicia: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the source [or, ruler] of God's creation [See John 1:3; Heb. 1:1-2]:

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who deserves to break the seals on it and open the book?" [Note: This "book" was probably a rolled up scroll written on both sides, with wax seals keeping it from unrolling and its contents from being exposed].

And they called out to the mountains, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of God, who sits on His throne, and from the anger of the Lamb.

For the terrible day of their anger has come, and who will be able to survive it?"

And I saw another angel coming up from the east; he held the seal of the living God. [Note: This "seal" was a mark of identification or ownership]. And he called out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given [the power] to harm the land and the ocean,

Then another angel, who held a golden incense holder, came and stood at the Altar. He was given a quantity of incense to add to the prayers of all the saints [as an offering] on the golden Altar, which was in front of the throne.

And the smoke of the [burning] incense, [mingled] with the prayers of the saints, ascended from [the incense holder in] the angel's hand up to the presence of God.

Then the angel took the incense holder and filled it with hot coals from the Altar and threw it to the earth. [Immediately] there was [heard] rolling thunder, and lightning flashes [were seen] and an earthquake [was felt].

[When] the second angel sounded its trumpet [I saw] what seemed like a huge mountain, ablaze with fire, being thrown into the ocean. And one third of the ocean turned to blood,

[When] the third angel sounded its trumpet [I saw] a huge star, like a flaming torch, falling from heaven. It fell on one third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

[When] the fourth angel sounded its trumpet [I saw] one third of the sun, one third of the moon, and one third of the stars being struck, so that one third [of their light] would become darkened. So, the daytime had [only] one third of its [normal] light, and the nighttime was the same way.

[When] the fifth angel sounded its trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. And the key to the shaft leading to the deep pit [Note: This is thought to be the place where the devil and his demons live] was given to him.

They had a king over them who was the angel of the deep pit [See verses 1-2]. His name in Hebrew was "Abaddon," and in Greek it was "Apollyon" [Note: These words both mean "Destroyer"].

And the sixth angel sounded its trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns [i.e., corners] of the golden Altar, which is in front of God.

It said to the sixth angel with the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are tied up at the great Euphrates River."

And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was covered by a cloud and there was a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun and his legs were like pillars of fire.

and he called out in a loud voice, like a roaring lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders responded to the voice [of the angel]. [Note: These "seven thunders" have not been previously mentioned].

And the angel I saw standing on the ocean and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven

But in the days when the seventh angel is ready to sound his trumpet, then the secret plan of God will be accomplished, just as He [had] announced to His servants the prophets."

Then the voice which I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, "Go [and] take the open book [being held] in the hand of the angel [See verse 2], who is standing on the ocean and on the land."

So, I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. And he said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will be sweet as honey to your taste, but will cause you to have a sour stomach."

So, I took the little book from the angel's hand and ate it. And [sure enough], it was sweet as honey to my taste, but after eating it, it gave me a sour stomach.

Then the seventh angel sounded its trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord [i.e., God] and of His Christ, and He will rule forever and ever."

Then I saw another angel flying in mid heaven. He had eternal good news to proclaim to those who lived on the earth, and to every nation, tribe, language group and race.

Then [I saw] a second angel following [him]. He said, "Fallen! Great Babylon has fallen. She has forced all the nations to drink the wine of her passionate sexual immorality [Note: The word "passionate" here could also mean "angry"]."

Then a third angel followed them. He said in a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his statue, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

he will also [have to] drink the wine of God's anger, as an undiluted mixture in the cup of His anger. And he will be tortured with burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Then another angel [i.e., the fourth] came out of the Temple, calling out with a loud voice to Him who was sitting on the cloud, "Use your sharp sickle to reap [a harvest] because it is harvest time, and the crop of the earth is ripe."

Then another angel [i.e., the fifth] came out of the Temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.