Revelation 14:19 kjv
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Revelation 14:19 nkjv
So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Revelation 14:19 niv
The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath.
Revelation 14:19 esv
So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Revelation 14:19 nlt
So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God's wrath.
Revelation 14 19 Cross References
Verse | Text | Reference |
---|---|---|
Joel 3:13 | Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe... | Harvest as judgment for ripe wickedness. |
Isa 63:3 | I have trodden the winepress alone... My fury; their blood is sprinkled upon My garments... | Direct parallel for the divine winepress of wrath and bloodshed. |
Matt 13:30 | Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, "First gather the weeds... but gather the wheat..." | Parable of weeds and wheat; separation and judgment at harvest. |
Matt 13:39 | ...the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. | Clarifies that angels are the agents of harvest/judgment at the end of the age. |
Rev 14:15 | And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice... "Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come..." | Preceding command for a harvest, indicating two distinct harvests (righteous/wicked). |
Rev 19:15 | ...He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. | Reinforces the imagery of the winepress of wrath associated with Christ's final judgment. |
Psa 75:8 | For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup... and He pours it out; Surely the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. | The "cup of wrath" imagery conveying divine judgment upon the wicked. |
Isa 5:2 | ...He looked for good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. | Metaphor of Israel as God's vine producing bad fruit, foreshadowing judgment. |
Jer 2:21 | Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a wholly true seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate plant of an alien vine...? | God's people turning away, becoming a "degenerate vine" deserving judgment. |
Deut 32:32-33 | For their vine is of the vine of Sodom... Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter... the poison of serpents... | Wickedness producing bitter, poisonous fruit ripe for destruction. |
Rom 2:5 | But in accordance with your hardness and impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. | Accumulation of sin leading to a day of manifested divine wrath. |
Eph 5:6 | Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. | The certainty of God's wrath falling upon the disobedient. |
Col 3:6 | Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. | Reiterates the consequence of disobedience – the coming wrath of God. |
Nahum 1:6 | Who can stand before His indignation? ...His fury is poured out like fire... | Descriptions of the overwhelming power and intensity of God's wrath. |
2 Thes 1:7-9 | ...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God... | Angelic involvement and the fiery vengeance of God at the Lord's return. |
Rev 6:17 | For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? | Announcement of the commencement of the "great day" of God's wrath. |
Rev 11:18 | Your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged... | God's wrath is presented as an inevitable, timed event of judgment. |
Matt 13:41 | The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness... | Angels actively gathering those designated for judgment. |
Rev 16:1 | ...I heard a loud voice... saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth." | Angels as the instruments for pouring out specific aspects of God's wrath. |
Jer 51:33 | For the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is trodden; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come. | Babylon's judgment is also likened to a harvest that is trampled. |
Dan 7:9-10 | Thrones were cast down, And the Ancient of Days was seated... The court was seated, And the books were opened. | Foreshadowing of a grand, decisive judgment scene at the end of time. |
Mal 4:1 | For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble... | The coming day of judgment burning away the wicked. |
Revelation 14 verses
Revelation 14 19 Meaning
Revelation 14:19 describes a profound act of divine judgment. An angel, serving as an instrument of God's will, harvests the entirety of the wicked world, depicted metaphorically as "the vine of the earth." These "clusters," representing the multitude of the ungodly, are then forcefully cast into a "great wine press." This powerful image signifies the severe and crushing outpouring of God's righteous wrath against sin and rebellion at the climax of human history, leading to widespread destruction.
Revelation 14 19 Context
Revelation 14 provides a significant interlude within John's vision of end-time events. It contrasts the redeemed—the 144,000 on Mount Zion—with those who worship the beast, foreshadowing their ultimate fates. Verses 6-13 contain three angelic proclamations, warning the world against idolatry and announcing Babylon's fall and God's righteous judgments. Verses 14-20 then detail two distinct "harvests." The first, often interpreted as the harvest of the righteous (grain harvest) gathered by the Son of Man (vv. 14-16), portrays their protection or gathering. The second, from verse 17 onward, depicts the grape harvest, specifically symbolizing the judgment of the wicked. Verse 19 is a vivid, brutal climax to this second harvest, portraying the literal gathering and immediate processing of the earth's corrupt "fruit" into the great winepress of God's wrath. Historically, the agricultural imagery of harvesting and wine presses was universally understood in an agrarian society, making the metaphor of violent judgment extremely potent and relatable for John's original audience facing Roman imperial pressure and potential persecution.
Revelation 14 19 Word analysis
So (καὶ - kai): Connects this action directly to the preceding command given to the angel in verse 18, showing a continuous narrative flow of judgment.
the angel (ὁ ἄγγελος - ho angelos): A specific, previously introduced angelic figure (the one from verse 18), acting as a divine executor, emphasizing that judgment is divinely appointed and executed by celestial agents.
swung (ἔβαλεν - ebalen): "Cast," "threw," or "thrust." Implies a forceful, decisive, and complete action, leaving no doubt about the angel's authority and the finality of the act.
his sickle (τὸ δρέπανον αὐτοῦ - to drepanon autou): The same "sickle" as used in the previous harvest passages, signifying a tool of harvesting that here functions as an instrument of decisive, lethal judgment.
to the earth (εἰς τὴν γῆν - eis ten gen): Indicates the universal scope of this judgment; it falls upon the entire rebellious, worldly system and its inhabitants, not just a localized area.
gathered the clusters (ἐτρύγησεν τοὺς βότρυας - etrygesen tous botryas): "Gathered the grape clusters." Specific vocabulary for harvesting grapes. The "clusters" metaphorically represent the entire assembly of those ripe for judgment, ready to be crushed.
from the vine of the earth (τὴν ἄμπελον τῆς γῆς - ten ampelon tes ges): A potent metaphor for the collective evil of humanity and the global system in rebellion against God. Unlike God's true vine (Israel or Christ and His followers), this vine yields fruit of sin and wickedness, necessitating its destruction.
and threw them (καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτοὺς - kai ebalen autous): Another forceful "throwing," reinforcing the violent and non-negotiable nature of the placement into judgment.
into the great wine press (εἰς τὴν μεγάλην ληνὸν - eis ten megalen lenon): The device for treading grapes to extract juice. "Great" (megalen) denotes its vast scale and immense capacity, emphasizing the magnitude and severity of the judgment to come. It's a place of crushing and shedding of "blood," vividly portraying widespread slaughter.
of the wrath of God (τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ - tou thymou tou Theou): This defines the nature and source of the winepress. It is not arbitrary cruelty but righteous indignation against sin, reflecting God's holy justice. Thymos specifically denotes a passionate, fierce outpouring of wrath.
So the angel swung his sickle to the earth: This phrase vividly portrays a divine agent of judgment executing a swift and global harvest of the condemned, under God's ultimate authority.
gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth: Identifies the condemned—all those who comprise the corrupt worldly system—and the manner of their collection, ready for processing. It implies they are "ripe" in their wickedness.
and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God: Emphasizes the destination and outcome of this gathering—a place of utter and overwhelming destruction, explicitly driven by the intense, righteous fury of God.
Revelation 14 19 Bonus section
- Ordered Judgment: The angelic action indicates that divine judgment is not chaotic but orderly and purposeful, carried out by appointed agents under the specific command of God.
- Cumulative Wrath: The "great wine press" speaks to the culmination of accumulated sin. The more pervasive and intense the rebellion, the larger the press needed for its corresponding judgment.
- Contrast to Christ as Vine: The "vine of the earth" starkly contrasts with Jesus' teaching of Himself as "the true vine" (Jn 15:1) where believers abide and bear good fruit. This earthly vine bears only fruit of wickedness, ripe for destruction.
- The Unveiling: Revelation's primary purpose is an "unveiling" of ultimate reality. This verse pulls back the curtain on the final, cataclysmic consequence of persistent rebellion against the Most High God.
Revelation 14 19 Commentary
Revelation 14:19 unveils a fearsome scene of ultimate divine retribution. Following the merciful invitation of the eternal Gospel and warnings of coming judgment, this verse pictures the direct and physical execution of God's judicial wrath upon the unrepentant world. The imagery of a "grape harvest" differs sharply from a "grain harvest." Grain is gathered for preservation; grapes, when referring to judgment, are gathered for crushing. The "vine of the earth" signifies humanity's collective rebellion, whose sins have matured to the point where judgment is inevitable and fully deserved. The "great wine press" represents the crushing mechanism of God's fury, an image of unparalleled, pervasive violence and the spilling of "blood," which in Revelation 14:20 is explicitly described. This is not arbitrary anger, but the just response of a holy God to persistent sin, confirming that there comes a time when patience yields to punitive righteousness. It serves as a stark warning and a testament to God's justice.