The Revelation of St. John (1558) - Page 21

The Lamb on the mountain with the thousands. Harps and a song. An angel preaching the gospel: Babylon has fallen. Revelation 14.
original Latin: "Agnus in monte cum millibus. Citharæ & canticum . Angelus euangelizans: Cecidit Babylon. Apoc. 14."

The Lamb on the mountain / with many thousands. Harp playing and singing in heaven. The angel cries out: Babylon has fallen. Revelation 14.
original German: "Das Lamb vff dem berg / mit vil tausentzen. Harpffen spil vnnd singen im himel. Engel schreit: Babylon ist gefallen Apoc. 14."

This section illustrates the transition from the terrors of the two Beasts to a vision of divine hope. The "Lamb" is a central symbol for Jesus Christ, standing on Mount Zion—a traditional symbol for the kingdom of God or the heavenly Jerusalem. He is accompanied by the "many thousands" (traditionally 144,000), representing the faithful who have remained pure and refused the mark of the Beast described on the previous page.

The scene is sensory and loud; the text mentions both the visual presence of the multitude and the auditory experience of "harp playing" and a "new song" that only the redeemed can learn. This celestial harmony is immediately followed by a stark proclamation of judgment: the fall of "Babylon." In the context of the 16th-century Reformation, Babylon was frequently used as a polemical shorthand for Rome or any religious system the authors deemed corrupt. The woodcut associated with this text emphasizes the scale of this fall, showing an elaborate, crumbling city being surpassed by the eternal stability of the mountain and the Lamb.