Revelation 8–9

Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets

8When ^aHe opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ^2bAnd I saw the seven angels who stand before God, ^cand to them were given seven trumpets. ³Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with ^dthe prayers of all the saints upon ^ethe golden altar which was before the throne. ⁴And ^fthe smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And ^gthere were noises, thunderings, ^hlightnings, ⁱand an earthquake.

⁶So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck

⁷The first angel sounded: ^jAnd hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown ^kto the ¹earth. And a third ^lof the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck

⁸Then the second angel sounded: ^mAnd something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, ⁿand a third of the sea ^obecame blood. ^9pAnd a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck

¹⁰Then the third angel sounded: ^qAnd a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, ^rand it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ^11sThe name of the star is Wormwood. ^tA third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck

^12uThen the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day ²did not shine, and likewise the night.

¹³And I looked, ^vand I heard an ³angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, ^w“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit

9Then the fifth angel sounded: ^aAnd I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to ^bthe ¹bottomless pit. ²And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the ^csun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. ³Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, ^das the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴They were commanded ^enot to harm ^fthe grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have ^gthe seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵And ²they were not given authority to kill them, ^hbut to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. ⁶In those days ⁱmen will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

^7jThe shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. ^kOn their heads were crowns of something like gold, ^land their faces were like the faces of men. ⁸They had hair like women’s hair, and ^mtheir teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was ⁿlike the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. ¹⁰They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. ¹¹And they had as king over them ^othe angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is ³Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name ⁴Apollyon.

^12pOne woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates

¹³Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the ^qgolden altar which is before God, ¹⁴saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound ^rat the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a ^sthird of mankind. ¹⁶Now ^tthe number of the army ^uof the horsemen was two hundred million; ^vI heard the number of them. ¹⁷And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; ^wand the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. ¹⁸By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. ¹⁹For ⁵their power is in their mouth and in their tails; ^xfor their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.

²⁰But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^ydid not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship ^zdemons, ^aand idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. ²¹And they did not repent of their murders ^bor their ⁶sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.