Revelation 9–11

9And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and ^qI saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given ^rthe key to the shaft of ^sthe bottomless pit.^{1 2}He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft ^trose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and ^uthe sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. ³Then from the smoke came ^vlocusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. ⁴They were told ^wnot to harm ^xthe grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have ^ythe seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵They were allowed to torment them ^zfor five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶And in those days ^apeople will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

^7bIn appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: ^con their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were ^dlike human faces, ⁸their hair like women’s hair, and ^etheir teeth like lions’ teeth; ⁹they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was ^flike the noise of many chariots with ^ghorses rushing into battle. ¹⁰They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people ^hfor five months is in their tails. ¹¹They have ⁱas king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is ^jAbaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.²

^12kThe first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

¹³Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from ^lthe four horns of the golden altar before God, ¹⁴saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release ^mthe four angels who are bound at ⁿthe great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released ^oto kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶The number of ^pmounted troops was ^qtwice ten thousand times ten thousand; ^rI heard their number. ¹⁷And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire³ and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were ^slike lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. ¹⁸By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. ¹⁹For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

²⁰The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^tdid not repent of ^uthe works of their hands nor give up worshiping ^vdemons ^wand idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, ²¹nor did they repent of their murders or their ^xsorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with ^ya rainbow over his head, and ^zhis face was like the sun, and ^ahis legs like pillars of fire. ^2bHe had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, ³and called out with a loud voice, ^clike a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. ⁴And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^d“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” ⁵And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^eraised his right hand to heaven ⁶and swore by ^fhim who lives forever and ever, ^gwho created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, ⁷but that ^hin the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, ⁱjust as he announced to his servants the prophets.

⁸Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, ^j“Take and ^keat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹And I was told, ^l“You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11Then I was given ^ma measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, ²but do not measure ⁿthe court outside the temple; leave that out, for ^oit is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for ^pforty-two months. ³And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^p1,260 days, ^qclothed in sackcloth.”

⁴These are ^rthe two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵And if anyone would harm them, ^sfire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, ^tthis is how he is doomed to be killed. ⁶They have the power ^uto shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and ^vto strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. ⁷And when they have finished their testimony, ^wthe beast that rises from ^xthe bottomless pit^{1 y}will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, ⁸and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically² is called ^zSodom and ^aEgypt, where their Lord was crucified. ⁹For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and ^brefuse to let them be placed in a tomb, ¹⁰and ^cthose who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and ^dexchange presents, because these two prophets ^ehad been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹But after the three and a half days ^fa breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹²Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ^g“Come up here!” And ^hthey went up to heaven ⁱin a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³And at that hour there was ^ja great earthquake, and ^ka tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^lgave glory to ^mthe God of heaven.

¹⁴ⁿThe second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵Then ^othe seventh angel blew his trumpet, and ^pthere were loud voices in heaven, saying, ^q“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of ^rhis Christ, and ^she shall reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶And the twenty-four elders ^twho sit on their thrones before God ^ufell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

^vwho is and who was,

for you have taken your great power

and ^wbegun to reign.

¹⁸The nations raged,

but ^xyour wrath came,

and ^ythe time for the dead to be judged,

and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,

and ^zthose who fear your name,

both small and great,

and ^afor destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

¹⁹Then ^bGod’s temple in heaven was opened, and ^cthe ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,⁴ peals of thunder, an earthquake, and ^dheavy hail.