2. But do not measure the outer courtyard. It has been given to those who aren't Jews. They will overrun the holy city for 42 months.
3. "I will give power to my two witnesses. They will prophesy for 1,260 days. They will be dressed in black clothes to show how sad they are."
4. The witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand in front of the Lord of the earth.
5. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and eats up their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.
6. These witnesses have power to close up the sky. Then it will not rain while they are prophesying. They also have power to turn the waters into blood. And they can strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want to.
7. When they have finished giving their witness, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them. He will overpower them and kill them.
8. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city where their Lord was nailed to the cross. The city is sometimes pictured as Sodom, or as Egypt.
9. For three and a half days, people from every tribe, language and nation will stare at their bodies. They will refuse to bury them.
10. Those who live on the earth will be happy about this and will celebrate. They will send each other gifts, because these two prophets had made them suffer.