The combination of the words “prophesy” and “about” could make us think that people, nations, languages, and kings are simply topics that John must speak about. The same phrase translated as “prophesy about” appears in the Greek translation of the Old Testament repeatedly in the condemning sense of “prophesy against” (e.g., Jeremiah 25:30; Jeremiah 26:12; Ezekiel 4:7; Ezekiel 6:2; Ezekiel 11:4, etc.). The point is not that John must travel to many peoples and nations (John is an old man and imprisoned) in order to prophesy to them; the point is that what John must say in the coming chapters of Revelation is condemning of peoples, nations, languages, and kings. That is very much in line with the significance of the “loud voice” John had heard in Revelation 10:3 and the declaration of “no more delay” in Revelation 10:6.
11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”