Bible Strands
Revelation 16:6
For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The angel of the waters addresses God immediately following the third bowl judgment, declaring the justification for the poured-out cup.
The words — The verb ἐξέχεαν (exechean) literally means “they have poured out,” and the noun αἷμα (haima) denotes “blood,” describing the violence inflicted on the faithful and the corresponding divine retribution.
The thread — This reciprocal judgment motif runs through Isaiah 49:26, Revelation 6:10, and Revelation 11:18.
Why it lands — The text states that God’s punishment matches the violence inflicted on His servants, requiring readers to acknowledge divine justice as proportional and inevitable rather than arbitrary.
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
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
- Revelation 6:10 And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?”
- Revelation 11:18 The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and those who fear Your name, both small and great—and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
- Luke 11:49 Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’
- Revelation 18:24 And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.
- 2 Kings 24:4 and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.
- Matthew 23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
- Revelation 13:15 The second beast was permitted to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship it to be killed.
- Revelation 17:6 I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
- Lamentations 4:13 But this was for the sins of her prophets and the guilt of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.