13Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?”

14And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.”

Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in^a the great tribulation.^b They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

15“That is why they stand in front of God’s throne

and serve him day and night in his Temple.

And he who sits on the throne

will give them shelter.

16They will never again be hungry or thirsty;

they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.

17For the Lamb on the throne^c

will be their Shepherd.

He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.

And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”