Revelation 9–17

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.

The Mighty Angel with the Little Book

10I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. ^aAnd a rainbow was on ^bhis head, his face was like the sun, and ^chis feet like pillars of fire. ²He had a little book open in his hand. ^dAnd he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, ^eseven thunders uttered their voices. ⁴Now when the seven thunders ¹uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying ²to me, ^f“Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

⁵The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^graised up his ³hand to heaven ⁶and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, ^hwho created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, ⁱthat there should be delay no longer, ⁷but ^jin the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

John Eats the Little Book

⁸Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.”

⁹So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”

And he said to me, ^k“Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

¹⁰Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, ^land it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, ^mmy stomach became bitter. ¹¹And ⁴he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11Then I was given ^aa reed like a measuring rod. ¹And the angel stood, saying, ^b“Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. ²But leave out ^cthe court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, ^dfor it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will ^etread the holy city underfoot for ^fforty-two months. ³And I will give power to my two ^gwitnesses, ^hand they will prophesy ⁱone thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴These are the ^jtwo olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the ²God of the earth. ⁵And if anyone wants to harm them, ^kfire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. ^lAnd if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. ⁶These ^mhave power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

The Witnesses Killed

⁷When they ⁿfinish their testimony, ^othe beast that ascends ^pout of the bottomless pit ^qwill make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. ⁸And their dead bodies will lie in the street of ^rthe great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, ^swhere also ³our Lord was crucified. ^9tThen those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations ⁴will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, ^uand not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. ^10vAnd those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, ^wand send gifts to one another, ^xbecause these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

The Witnesses Resurrected

^11yNow after the three-and-a-half days ^zthe breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹²And ⁵they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” ^aAnd they ascended to heaven ^bin a cloud, ^cand their enemies saw them. ¹³In the same hour ^dthere was a great earthquake, ^eand a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid ^fand gave glory to the God of heaven.

^14gThe second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Seventh Trumpet: The Kingdom Proclaimed

¹⁵Then ^hthe seventh angel sounded: ⁱAnd there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ^j“The ⁶kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, ^kand He shall reign forever and ever!” ¹⁶And ^lthe twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and ^mworshiped God, ¹⁷saying:

“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,

The One ⁿwho is and who was ⁷and who is to come,

Because You have taken Your great power ^oand reigned.

¹⁸The nations were ^pangry, and Your ⁸wrath has come,

And the time of the ^qdead, that they should be judged,

And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,

And those who fear Your name, small and great,

And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹Then ^rthe temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of ⁹His covenant was seen in His temple. And ^sthere were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, ^tand great hail.

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. ²Then being with child, she cried out ^ain labor and in pain to give birth.

³And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, ^ba great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. ^4cHis tail drew a third ^dof the stars of heaven ^eand threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood ^fbefore the woman who was ready to give birth, ^gto devour her Child as soon as it was born. ⁵She bore a male Child ^hwho was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was ⁱcaught up to God and His throne. ⁶Then ^jthe woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there ^kone thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Satan Thrown Out of Heaven

⁷And war broke out in heaven: ^lMichael and his angels fought ^mwith the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, ⁸but they ¹did not prevail, nor was a place found for ²them in heaven any longer. ⁹So ⁿthe great dragon was cast out, ^othat serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, ^pwho deceives the whole world; ^qhe was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ^r“Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, ^swho accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. ¹¹And ^tthey overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, ^uand they did not love their lives to the death. ¹²Therefore ^vrejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! ^wWoe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, ^xbecause he knows that he has a short time.”

The Woman Persecuted

¹³Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted ^ythe woman who gave birth to the male Child. ^14zBut the woman was given two…