Revelation 8

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

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

And I saw the seven angels^b who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.^c

Another angel,^d 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,^e on the golden altar^f before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God^g from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar,^h and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,ⁱ rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.^j

The Trumpets

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

The first angel^b sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire^c mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third^d of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.^e

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain,^f all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third^g of the sea turned into blood,^h a thirdⁱ of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky^j on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water^k— the name of the star is Wormwood. A third^l of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.^m

The 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 thirdⁿ of them turned dark.^o A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.^p

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