And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them: Come up hither. And they went up to heaven in a cloud: and their enemies saw them.

And I heard a great voice out of the heaven saying to them, Come up here; and they went up to the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.

And they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

Then they heard a loud voice calling to them out of Heaven, and bidding them come up; and they went up to Heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them go.

And a great voice from heaven came to their ears, saying to them, Come up here. And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and were seen by those desiring their death.

And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, "Ascend to here!" And they ascended into heaven on a cloud. And their enemies saw them.

The two men heard a loud voice from heaven which said to them – 'Come up here,' and they went up to heaven in the cloud, while their enemies watched them.

And they heard a great voice from heaven - Some manuscripts read, "I heard" - ἤκουσα ēkousa - but the more approved reading is that of the common text. John says that a voice was addressed to them calling them to ascend to heaven.
Come up hither - To heaven.
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud - So the Saviour ascended, Acts 1:9; and so probably Elijah, 2-Kings 2:11.
And their enemies beheld them - That is, it was done openly, so that their enemies, who had put them to death, saw that they were approved of God, as if they had been publicly taken up to heaven. It is not necessary to suppose that this would literally occur. All this is, manifestly, mere symbol. The meaning is, that they would triumph as if they should ascend to heaven, and he received into the presence of God. The sense of the whole is, that these witnesses, after bearing a faithful testimony against prevailing errors and sins, would be persecuted and silenced; that for a considerable period their voice of faithful testimony would be hushed as if they were dead; that during that period they would be treated with contempt and scorn, as if their unburied bodies should be exposed to the public gaze; that there would be general exultation and joy that they were thus silenced; that they would again revive, as if the dead were restored to life, and bear a faithful testimony to the truth again; and that they would have the divine attestation in their favor, its if they were raised up visibly and publicly to heaven.

They ascended up to heaven - Enjoyed a state of great peace and happiness.

And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, (22) Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; (23) and their enemies beheld them.
(22) They were called by God into heaven, and taken out of this wicked world, into the heavenly Church, which also lies hidden here in the earth, to exercise their calling secretly: of whom this wretched world was unworthy; (Hebrews 11:38). For the church of the wicked is by comparison called the earth, or the world: and the Church of the godly, heaven. As it was in ancient times among the godly Israelites: so among the Jews in the days of Manasseh and other kings, when the earth refused the heirs of heaven, we read that they lay hidden as heaven in the earth.
(23) Yet they could not hinder the secret ones of the Lord (as the Psalmist called them) (Psalm 83:3) but they prospered in his work.

And they heard a great voice from heaven,.... The Complutensian edition reads, "I heard", i.e. "John"; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions; but the copies in general read "they"; not the enemies, but the witnesses: and this seems not to come from any Christian civil magistrate in the church, but from Christ himself; not but that Christ may make use of, such for the bringing of his people into a more glorious and comfortable state in this world:
saying unto them, come up hither; as the angel said to John, Revelation 4:1, and Christ will say to his people, though on another account, Matthew 25:34.
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; which is to be understood not literally, for no man hath ascended to heaven, nor will any, until the thousand years are ended, when the saints will, in a body, ascend thither; but mystically, of a more glorious state of the church; so to ascend to heaven signifies a more exalted state in a prince, or a kingdom, Isaiah 14:13; and here intends a state of comfortable communion of the saints one with another, of great purity and holiness, of large enjoyments of blessings and privileges, and of great security from enemies, and of great glory, and honour, and power, that shall be bestowed upon them; they now dwelling on high, and their place of defence being the munition of rocks. This will be the beginning of the spiritual reign of Christ; and this ascension of the witnesses will be in a cloud, in allusion to our Lord's ascension to heaven, and as expressive of that glory and majesty which will be put upon these risen witnesses, and in which they shall enter into this happy state of things; or it may be, that this may denote that the first appearance of these happy times, and of Christ's spiritual reign in his church, and their more comfortable enjoyment, will be at first but dim and obscure, and yet such as, in comparison of their former state, will be visible to, and be taken notice of, even by their very enemies:
and their enemies beheld them; going up to heaven, or entering into a purer, and more glorious, and spiritual state; for the mountain of the Lord's house will be established upon the top of the mountains, and Jerusalem shall be made the praise of the whole earth, an eternal excellency, and the joy of many generations; and this shall be seen and known of all, though to their grief and sorrow.

they--so A, C, and Vulgate. But B, Coptic, Syriac, and ANDREAS read, "I heard."
a cloud--Greek, "the cloud"; which may be merely the generic expression for what we are familiar with, as we say "the clouds." But I prefer taking the article as definitely alluding to THE cloud which received Jesus at His ascension, Acts 1:9 (where there is no article, as there is no allusion to a previous cloud, such as there is here). As they resembled Him in their three and a half years' witnessing, their three and a half days lying in death (though not for exactly the same time, nor put in a tomb as He was), so also in their ascension is the translation and transfiguration of the sealed of Israel (Revelation 7:1-8), and the elect of all nations, caught up out of the reach of the Antichristian foe. In Revelation 14:14-16, He is represented as sitting on a white cloud.
their enemies beheld them--and were thus openly convicted by God for their unbelief and persecution of His servants; unlike Elijah's ascension formerly, in the sight of friends only. The Church caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and transfigured in body, is justified by her Lord before the world, even as the man-child (Jesus) was "caught up unto God and His throne" from before the dragon standing ready to devour the woman's child as soon as born.

And I heard a great voice - Designed for all to hear. And they went up to heaven, and their enemies beheld them - who had not taken notice of their rising again; by which some had been convinced before.