1 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down from heaven. The angel was dressed in a cloud. He had a rainbow around his head. The angel’s face was like the sun, and his legs were like poles of fire. 2 The angel was holding a small scroll. The scroll was open in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. 3 He shouted loudly like the roaring of a lion. After he shouted, the voices of seven thunders spoke.

4 The seven thunders spoke, and I started to write. But then I heard a voice from heaven that said, “Don’t write what the seven thunders said. Keep those things secret.”

5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 The angel made a promise by the power of the one who lives forever and ever. He is the one who made the skies and all that is in them. He made the earth and all that is in it, and he made the sea and all that is in it. The angel said, “There will be no more waiting! 7 In the days when the seventh angel is ready to blow his trumpet, God’s secret plan will be completed—the Good News that God told to his servants, the prophets.”

8 Then I heard the same voice from heaven again. It said to me, “Go and take the open scroll that is in the angel’s hand. This is the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take the scroll and eat it. It will be sour in your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet like honey.” 10 So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. In my mouth it tasted sweet like honey, but after I ate it, it was sour in my stomach. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many races of people, many nations, languages, and rulers.”