Translation
Then another angel came
out of the temple
shouting in a loud voice
to the one
sitting on the cloud, “Put forth your sickle and reap,
Go to footnote numberfor the hour to reap has come,
Go to footnote numberbecause the harvest of the earth has ripened.”
Paraphrase
Then another messenger came from the place where God’s presence connects with man’s need,
using a voice that everyone could hear and announcing to the one
in control of the power, “Begin the process of putting consequences into action, for the hour of consequences has come, because the actions of those to be judged have reached the full extent of their expression.”
Footnotes
1: “Put forth your sickle and reap”
Even though this sounds like a command, it is actually an announcement about timing. The angel does not command Jesus to bring in the harvest, rather he comes from the place where God’s finger is constantly on the pulse of the human spiritual condition, bringing a message from God the Father, that the time for harvest has come. Of course Jesus already knows that too, but it is announced so that everyone will know that the actions of Jesus are justified by the need for judgment.
2
“Reaping” had always carried the idea of consequences, e.g. “you reap what you sow.”