Revelation 6–8

The Seals

6I watched as the Lamb^a opened the first of the seven seals.^b Then I heard one of the four living creatures^c say in a voice like thunder,^d “Come!” ²I looked, and there before me was a white horse!^e Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown,^f and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.^g

³When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature^h say, “Come!” ⁴Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.ⁱ Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth^j and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.

⁵When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature^k say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse!^l Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures,^m saying, “Two pounds^a of wheat for a day’s wages,^b and six pounds^c of barley for a day’s wages,^dn and do not damage^o the oil and the wine!”

⁷When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature^p say, “Come!” ⁸I looked, and there before me was a pale horse!^q Its rider was named Death, and Hades^r was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.^s

⁹When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under^t the altar^u the souls of those who had been slain^v because of the word of God^w and the testimony they had maintained. ¹⁰They called out in a loud voice, “How long,^x Sovereign Lord,^y holy and true,^z until you judge the inhabitants of the earth^a and avenge our blood?”^{b 11}Then each of them was given a white robe,^c and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,^e were killed just as they had been.^d

¹²I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake.^e The sun turned black^f like sackcloth^g made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, ¹³and the stars in the sky fell to earth,^h as figs drop from a fig treeⁱ when shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up,^j and every mountain and island was removed from its place.^k

¹⁵Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free,^l hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.^{m 16}They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on usⁿ and hide us^f from the face of him who sits on the throne^o and from the wrath of the Lamb! ¹⁷For the great day^p of their^g wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”^q

144,000 Sealed

7After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners^r of the earth, holding back the four winds^s of the earth to prevent^t any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. ²Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal^u of the living God.^v He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:^{w 3}“Do not harm^x the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads^y of the servants of our God.” ⁴Then I heard the number^z of those who were sealed: 144,000^a from all the tribes of Israel.

⁵From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

⁶from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

⁷from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

⁸from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

The Great Multitude in White Robes

⁹After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,^b standing before the throne^c and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes^d and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,^e

who sits on the throne,^f

and to the Lamb.”

¹¹All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders^g and the four living creatures.^h They fell down on their facesⁱ before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying:

“Amen!

Praise and glory

and wisdom and thanks and honor

and power and strength

be to our God for ever and ever.

Amen!”^j

¹³Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes^k—who are they, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes^l and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.^{m 15}Therefore,

“they are before the throne of Godⁿ

and serve him^o day and night in his temple;^p

and he who sits on the throne^q

will shelter them with his presence.^r

¹⁶‘Never again will they hunger;

never again will they thirst.^s

The sun will not beat down on them,’^a

nor any scorching heat.^t

¹⁷For the Lamb at the center of the throne

will be their shepherd;^u

‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’^bv

‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’^c”^w

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8When he opened the seventh seal,^x there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

²And I saw the seven angels^y who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.^z

³Another angel,^a who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people,^b on the golden altar^c in front of the throne. ⁴The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God^d from the angel’s hand. ⁵Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar,^e and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,^f rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.^g

The Trumpets

⁶Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets^h prepared to sound them.

⁷The first angelⁱ sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire^j mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third^k of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.^l

⁸The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain,^m all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A thirdⁿ of the sea turned into blood,^{o 9}a third^p of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky^q on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water^r—¹¹the name of the star is Wormwood.^a A third^s of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.^t

¹²The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third^u of them turned dark.^v A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.^w

¹³As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair^x call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe^y to the inhabitants of the earth,^z because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”