Revelation 9–17

THE FIFTH TRUMPET

9The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth.^y The key for the shaft to the abyss^z was given to him. ²He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great^B furnace^aa so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.^{ab 3}Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth,^ac and power was given to them^ad like the power that scorpions have on the earth.^{ae 4}They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree,^af but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.^{ag 5}They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.^ah

⁷The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle.^a Something like golden crowns was on their heads; their faces were like human faces; ⁸they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth;^{b 9}they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses rushing into battle; ¹⁰and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months. ¹¹They had as their king^D the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon,^Ec and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.^F

¹²The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this.^d

THE SIXTH TRUMPET

¹³The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four^G horns of the golden altar^e that is before God, I heard a voice ¹⁴say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels^f bound at the great river Euphrates.”^{g 15}So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year^h were released to kill a thirdⁱ of the human race. ¹⁶The number of mounted troops was two hundred million;^A I heard their number. ¹⁷This is how I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.^{j 18}A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues—by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. ¹⁹For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that inflict injury.

²⁰The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands^k to stop worshiping demons^l and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood,^m which cannot see, hear, or walk.^{n 21}And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

THE MIGHTY ANGEL AND THE SMALL SCROLL

10Then I saw another mighty angel^o coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow^p over his head.^B His face was like the sun, his legs^C were like pillars of fire,^{q 2}and he held a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land, ³and he called out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders raised their voices. ⁴And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders said,^r and do not write it down!”

⁵Then the angel that I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶He swore by the one who lives forever and ever,^s who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, “There will no longer be a delay, ⁷but in the days when the seventh angel^t will blow his trumpet, then the mystery of God^u will be completed, as he announced to his servants the prophets.”^v

⁸Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”^w

¹⁰Then I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter.^{x 11}And they said to me, “You must prophesy again about^D many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”^y

THE TWO WITNESSES

11Then I was given a measuring reed^z like a rod,^A with these words: “Go^B and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who worship there. ²But exclude the courtyard outside the temple.^aa Don’t measure it, because it is given to the nations,^Cab and they will trample the holy city^ac for forty-two months.^{ad 3}I will grant^D my two witnesses authority to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth.”^{ae 4}These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord^E of the earth.^{af 5}If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies;^ag if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. ⁶They have authority to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy.^a They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood^b and to strike the earth with every plague whenever they want.^c

THE WITNESSES MARTYRED

⁷When they finish their testimony, the beast^d that comes up out of the abyss^e will make war on them, conquer them, and kill them. ⁸Their dead bodies^Ff will lie in the main street^G of the great city,^g which figuratively^H is called Sodom^h and Egypt,ⁱ where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹And some of^I the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations^j will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb.^{k 10}Those who live on the earth will gloat^l over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

THE WITNESSES RESURRECTED

¹¹But after three and a half days, the breath^J of life^m from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹²Then they heard^K a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.^{n 13}At that moment a violent earthquake took place,^o a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second woe^p has passed. Take note: The third woe is coming soon!

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET

¹⁵The seventh angel blew his trumpet,^q and there were loud voices in heaven saying,

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom

of our Lord and of his Christ,

and he will reign forever and ever.^r

¹⁶The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying,

We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty,

who is and who was,^Ls

because you have taken your great power

and have begun to reign.^t

¹⁸The nations were angry,^u

but your wrath has come.

The time has come

for the dead to be judged

and to give the reward

to your servants the prophets,^v

to the saints, and to those who fear your name,

both small and great,^w

and the time has come to destroy

those who destroy the earth.

¹⁹Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant^A appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder,^x an earthquake,^B and severe hail.

THE WOMAN, THE CHILD, AND THE DRAGON

12A great sign appeared in heaven:^y a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.^{z 2}She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth.^{aa 3}Then another sign^D appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon^ab having seven heads and ten horns,^ac and on its heads were seven crowns.^{E 4}Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.^ad And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child.^{ae 5}She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule^F all nations with an iron rod.^af Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. ⁶The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God,^ag to be nourished there^G for 1,260 days.^ah

THE DRAGON THROWN OUT OF HEAVEN

⁷Then war broke out in heaven: Michael^ai and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, ⁸but he could not prevail,^aj and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.^{ak 9}So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent,^al who is called the devil and Satan,^am the one who deceives the whole world.^a He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.^{b 10}Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,

The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Christ

have now come,^c

because the accuser^d of our brothers and sisters,

who accuses them

before our God day and night,

has been thrown down.

¹¹They conquered him

by the blood of the Lamb^e

and by the word of their testimony;^f

for they did not love their lives

to the point of death.^g

¹²Therefore rejoice, you heavens,

and you who dwell in them!^h

Woe to the earth and the sea,

because the devil has come down to you

with great fury,

because he knows his time is short.

THE WOMAN PERSECUTED

¹³When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted^A the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴The woman was given two wings of a great eagle,ⁱ so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time.^{j 15}From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after…