Revelation 6–8

The Opening of the First Six Seals

6And I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying like the sound of thunder, “Come!” ²And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and in order that he might conquer.

³And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” ⁴And another horse came out, fiery red, and it was granted to the one seated on it to take peace from the earth, and that they would slaughter one another, and a large sword was given to him.

⁵And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and the one seated on it had a balance scale in his hand. ⁶And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not damage the olive oil and the wine!”

⁷And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard a voice from the fourth living creature saying, “Come!” ⁸And I looked, and behold, a pale green horse, and the one seated on it was named^a Death, and Hades followed after him. And authority was granted to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword and by famine and by pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

⁹And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had, ¹⁰and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long^b, holy and true Lord, will you not judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” ¹¹And to each one of them a white robe was given, and it was said to them that they should rest yet a short time, until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed as they had been were completed also.

¹²And I watched when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake took place, and the sun became black like sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood, ¹³and the stars of heaven^c fell to the earth like a fig tree throws down its unripe figs when^* shaken by a great wind. ¹⁴And the sky was split apart like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved from their place. ¹⁵And the kings of the earth, and the most important people, and the military leaders, and the rich, and the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

The Sealing of the 144,000

7After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. ²And I saw another angel ascending from the east^a, holding the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given permission^b to damage the earth and the sea, ³saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the slaves of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴And I heard the number of the ones who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

⁵from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand,

⁶from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand,

⁷from the tribe of Simeon,^c twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand,

⁸from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

The Great Crowd before the Throne

⁹After these things I looked, and behold, a great crowd that no one was able to number, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰And they were crying out with a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation to our God

who is seated on the throne,

and to the Lamb!”

¹¹And all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying,

“Amen! Praise and glory,

and wisdom and thanksgiving,

and honor and power and strength

be to our God forever and ever^d. Amen!”

¹³And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are dressed in the white robes—who are they, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me,

“These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation,

and have washed their robes

and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵Because of this, they are before the throne of God,

and they serve^e him day and night in his temple,

and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter^f them.

¹⁶They will not be hungry any longer or be thirsty any longer,

nor will the sun ever beat down on them, nor any heat,^g

¹⁷because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them

and will lead them to springs of living waters,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”^h

The Opening of the Seventh Seal

8And when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ²And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. ³And another angel who had a golden censer came and stood at the altar, and a large amount of incense was given to him, in order that he could offer the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. ⁴And the smoke of the incense went up before God with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel. ⁵And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire from the altar and threw it to the earth, and there were thunders and sounds and lightnings and an earthquake.

The Blowing of the Trumpets

⁶And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves in order to blow them.

⁷And the first blew the trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown to the earth, and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸And the second angel blew the trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood, ⁹and a third of the creatures in the sea—the ones which had life—died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰And the third angel blew the trumpet, and a great star burning like a torch fell from heaven, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹And the name of the star was called Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters because they were made bitter.

¹²And the fourth angel blew the trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened, and the day did not shine with respect to a third of it, and the night likewise.

¹³And I looked, and I heard one eagle flying directly overhead^a, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who live on the earth, from the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow the trumpet!”