³Another angel came and stood at the altar. He had a shallow gold cup for burning incense. He was given a lot of incense to offer on the golden altar in front of the throne. With the incense he offered the prayers of all God’s people. ⁴The smoke of the incense together with the prayers of God’s people rose up from the angel’s hand. It went up in front of God.

⁵Then the angel took the cup and filled it with fire from the altar. He threw it down on the earth. There were rumblings and thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Trumpets

⁶Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets got ready to blow them.

⁷The first angel blew his trumpet. Hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up. A third of the trees were burned up. All the green grass was burned up.

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

¹⁰The third angel blew his trumpet. Then a great star fell from the sky. It looked like a blazing torch. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the water turned bitter. Many people died from it.

¹²The fourth angel blew his trumpet. Then a third of the sun was struck. A third of the moon was struck. A third of the stars were struck. So a third of each of them turned dark. Then a third of the day had no light. The same thing happened to a third of the night.

¹³As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air. It called out in a loud voice, “How terrible! How terrible it will be for those living on the earth! How terrible! They will suffer as soon as the next three angels blow their trumpets!”

9The fifth angel blew his trumpet. Then I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the tunnel leading down into the Abyss. ²When the star opened the Abyss, smoke rose up from it like the smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.

³Out of the smoke came locusts. They settled down on the earth. They were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. ⁴They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree. They were supposed to harm only the people who didn’t have God’s seal on their foreheads. ⁵They were not allowed to kill them. But they could hurt them over and over for five months. The pain the people suffered was like the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

⁶In those days, people will look for a way to die but won’t find it. They will want to die, but death will escape them.

⁷The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces. ⁸Their hair was like women’s hair. Their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹Their chests were covered with something that looked like armor made out of iron. The sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰They had tails and stings like scorpions. And in their tails they had power to hurt people over and over for five months.

¹¹Their king was the angel of the Abyss. In the Hebrew language his name is Abaddon. In Greek it is Apollyon.

¹²The first terrible judgment is past. Two others are still coming.

¹³The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the corners of the golden altar that stands in front of God. ¹⁴The voice spoke to the sixth angel who had the trumpet. It said, “Set the four angels free who are held at the great river Euphrates.”

¹⁵The four angels had been ready for this very hour and day and month and year. They were set free to kill a third of all people. ¹⁶The number of troops on horseback was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were.

¹⁷The horses and riders I saw in my vision had armor on their chests. It was flaming red, dark blue, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸A third of all people were killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of the horses’ mouths. ¹⁹The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. The tails were like snakes whose heads could bite.

²⁰The people who were not killed by these plagues still did not turn away from what they had been doing. They did not stop worshiping demons. They kept worshiping statues of gods made out of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, which can’t see or hear or walk. ²¹The people also did not turn away from their murders, witchcraft, sexual sins and stealing.

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