Revelation 9–17

9The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.^a The star was given the key^b to the shaft of the Abyss.^{c 2}When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.^d The sun and sky were darkened^e by the smoke from the Abyss.^{f 3}And out of the smoke locusts^g came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions^h of the earth. ⁴They were told not to harmⁱ the grass of the earth or any plant or tree,^j but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.^{k 5}They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months.^l And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion^m when it strikes. ⁶During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.ⁿ

⁷The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle.^o On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.^{p 8}Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.^{q 9}They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.^{r 10}They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.^{s 11}They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss,^t whose name in Hebrew^u is Abaddon^v and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

¹²The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.^w

¹³The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns^x of the golden altar that is before God.^{y 14}It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels^z who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”^{a 15}And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released^b to kill a third^c of mankind.^{d 16}The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.^e

¹⁷The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths^f came fire, smoke and sulfur.^{g 18}A third^h of mankind was killedⁱ by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur^j that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

²⁰The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent^k of the work of their hands;^l they did not stop worshiping demons,^m and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.^{n 21}Nor did they repent^o of their murders, their magic arts,^p their sexual immorality^q or their thefts.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10Then I saw another mighty angel^r coming down from heaven.^s He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow^t above his head; his face was like the sun,^u and his legs were like fiery pillars.^{v 2}He was holding a little scroll,^w which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,^{x 3}and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion.^y When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders^z spoke. ⁴And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write;^a but I heard a voice from heaven^b say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”^c

⁵Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land^d raised his right hand to heaven.^{e 6}And he swore^f by him who lives for ever and ever,^g who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it,^h and said, “There will be no more delay!^{i 7}But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet,^j the mystery^k of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”^l

⁸Then the voice that I had heard from heaven^m spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scrollⁿ that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’^a”^{o 10}I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth,^p but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. ¹¹Then I was told, “You must prophesy^q again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”^r

The Two Witnesses

11I was given a reed like a measuring rod^s and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. ²But exclude the outer court;^t do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles.^u They will trample on the holy city^v for 42 months.^{w 3}And I will appoint my two witnesses,^x and they will prophesy for 1,260 days,^y clothed in sackcloth.”^{z 4}They are “the two olive trees”^a and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”^{ab 5}If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies.^c This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.^{d 6}They have power to shut up the heavens^e so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying;^f and they have power to turn the waters into blood^g and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

⁷Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast^h that comes up from the Abyssⁱ will attack them,^j and overpower and kill them. ⁸Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city^k—which is figuratively called Sodom^l and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified.^{m 9}For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nationⁿ will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.^{o 10}The inhabitants of the earth^p will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts,^q because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

¹¹But after the three and a half days^r the breath^b of life from God entered them,^s and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. ¹²Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.”^t And they went up to heaven in a cloud,^u while their enemies looked on.

¹³At that very hour there was a severe earthquake^v and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory^w to the God of heaven.^x

¹⁴The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.^y

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵The seventh angel sounded his trumpet,^z and there were loud voices^a in heaven, which said:

“The kingdom of the world has become

the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,^b

and he will reign for ever and ever.”^c

¹⁶And the twenty-four elders,^d who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces^e and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying:

“We give thanks^f to you, Lord God Almighty,^g

the One who is and who was,^h

because you have taken your great power

and have begun to reign.ⁱ

¹⁸The nations were angry,^j

and your wrath has come.

The time has come for judging the dead,^k

and for rewarding your servants the prophets^l

and your people who revere your name,

both great and small^m—

and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹Then God’s templeⁿ in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant.^o And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder,^p an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.^q

The Woman and the Dragon

12A great sign^r appeared in heaven:^s a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars^t on her head. ²She was pregnant and cried out in pain^u as she was about to give birth. ³Then another sign appeared in heaven:^v an enormous red dragon^w with seven heads^x and ten horns^y and seven crowns^z on its heads. ⁴Its tail swept a third^a of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.^b The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child^c the moment he was born. ⁵She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”^ad And her child was snatched up^e to God and to his throne. ⁶The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.^f

⁷Then war broke out in heaven. Michael^g and his angels fought against the dragon,^h and the dragon and his angelsⁱ fought back. ⁸But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent^j called the devil,^k or Satan,^l who leads the whole world astray.^m He was hurled to the earth,ⁿ and his angels with him.

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven^o say:

“Now have come the salvation^p and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the authority of his Messiah.

For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,^q

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down.

¹¹They triumphed over^r him

by the blood of the Lamb^s

and by the word of their testimony;^t

they did not love their lives so much

as to shrink from death.^u

¹²Therefore rejoice, you heavens^v

and you who dwell in them!

But woe^w to the earth and the sea,^x

because the devil has gone down to you!

He is filled with fury,

because he knows that his time is short.”

¹³When the dragon^y saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.^{z 14}The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,^a so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time,^b out of the serpent’s reach. ¹⁵Then from his mouth the serpent^c spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. ¹⁶But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the…