Revelation 14:11

And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. Day and night there is no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The voice in Revelation 14 pronounces judgment on the earth’s inhabitants immediately after describing the beast’s victims being tormented in fire and sulfur. The declaration occurs within a sequence of final warnings and calls for saintly perseverance.

The words — καπνὸς (kapnos) translates literally to smoke, and βασανισμοῦ (basanismou) means torment. Paired with εἰς αἰῶνας (eis aiōnas), the phrase literally reads smoke of their torment into ages.

The thread — The ascending smoke motif repeats in Isaiah 34:10 and Revelation 19:3 to mark permanent, unquenched desolation. Matthew 25:46 mirrors the structure by contrasting unending punishment with unending life.

Why it lands — The text states that those who worship the beast or take its mark experience continuous, day-and-night torment without respite. It requires the reader to recognize that choosing the beast’s mark results in irreversible exclusion from rest and alignment with God’s wrath.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Cross-references

Isaiah 34:10 It will not be quenched—day or night. Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever again pass through it.
Revelation 19:3 And a second time they called out: “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises forever and ever.”
Matthew 25:46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:41 Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Revelation 20:10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Isaiah 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”
Mark 9:43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.
Luke 16:23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
Revelation 14:9 And a third angel followed them, calling out in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,
Revelation 18:18 and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.