Revelation 6–8

The Seals

6Then I saw the Lamb break open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice that sounded like thunder, “Come!” ^2*I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown. He rode out as a conqueror to conquer.

³Then the Lamb broke open the second seal; and I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ^4*Another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given the power to bring war on the earth, so that people should kill each other. He was given a large sword.

^5*Then the Lamb broke open the third seal; and I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider held a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶I heard what sounded like a voice coming from among the four living creatures, which said, “A litre of wheat for a day’s wages, and three litres of barley for a day’s wages. But do not damage the olive trees and the vineyards!”

⁷Then the Lamb broke open the fourth seal; and I heard the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ^8*I looked, and there was a pale-coloured horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades^c followed close behind. They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill by means of war, famine, disease, and wild animals.

⁹Then the Lamb broke open the fifth seal. I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because they had proclaimed God’s word and had been faithful in their witnessing. ¹⁰They shouted in a loud voice, “Almighty Lord, holy and true! How long will it be until you judge the people on earth and punish them for killing us?” ¹¹Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the complete number of their fellow-servants and fellow-Christians had been killed, as they had been.

^12*And I saw the Lamb break open the sixth seal. There was a violent earthquake, and the sun became black like coarse black cloth, and the moon turned completely red like blood. ^13*The stars fell down to the earth, like unripe figs falling from the tree when a strong wind shakes it. ^14*The sky disappeared like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. ^15*Then the kings of the earth, the rulers and the military chiefs, the rich and the powerful, and all other people, slave and free, hid themselves in caves and under rocks on the mountains. ^16*They called out to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the eyes of the one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb! ^17*The terrible day of their anger is here, and who can stand against it?”

The 144,000 People of Israel

7^*After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so that no wind should blow on the earth or the sea or against any tree. ²And I saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given the power to damage the earth and the sea. ^3*The angel said, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.” ⁴And I was told that the number of those who were marked with God’s seal on their foreheads was 144,000. They were from the twelve tribes of Israel, ^5–8twelve thousand from each tribe: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

The Enormous Crowd

⁹After this I looked, and there was an enormous crowd—no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰They called out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!” ¹¹All the angels stood round the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. Then they threw themselves face downwards in front of the throne and worshipped God, ¹²saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God for ever and ever! Amen!”

¹³One of the elders asked me, “Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where do they come from?”

^14*“I don’t know, sir. You do,” I answered.

He said to me, “These are the people who have come safely through the terrible persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵That is why they stand before God’s throne and serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will protect them with his presence. ^16*Never again will they hunger or thirst; neither sun nor any scorching heat will burn them, ^17*because the Lamb, who is in the centre of the throne, will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

The Seventh Seal

8When the Lamb broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ²Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.

^3*Another angel, who had a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a lot of incense to add to the prayers of all God’s people and to offer it on the gold altar that stands before the throne. ⁴The smoke of the burning incense went up with the prayers of God’s people from the hands of the angel standing before God. ^5*Then the angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. There were rumblings and peals of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Trumpets

⁶Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

^7*The first angel blew his trumpet. Hail and fire, mixed with blood, came pouring down on the earth. A third of the earth was burnt up, a third of the trees, and every blade of green grass.

⁸Then the second angel blew his trumpet. Something that looked like a huge mountain on fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea was turned into blood, ⁹a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

^10*Then the third angel blew his trumpet. A large star, burning like a torch, dropped from the sky and fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ^11*(The name of the star is “Bitterness”.) A third of the water turned bitter, and many people died from drinking the water, because it had turned bitter.

^12*Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet. A third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that their light lost a third of its brightness; there was no light during a third of the day and a third of the night.

¹³Then I looked, and I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air say in a loud voice, “O horror! horror! How horrible it will be for all who live on earth when the sound comes from the trumpets that the other three angels must blow!”