The Seventh Seal

8:1 Now1 when the Lamb2 opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 8:2 Then3 I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 8:3 Another4 angel holding5 a golden censer6 came and was stationed7 at the altar. A8 large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 8:4 The9 smoke coming from the incense,10 along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 8:5 Then11 the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring,12 flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

8:6 Now13 the seven angels holding14 the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

8:7 The15 first angel blew his trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown at the earth so that16 a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

8:8 Then17 the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain of burning fire was thrown into the sea. A18 third of the sea became blood, 8:9 and a third of the creatures19 living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed.20

8:10 Then21 the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star burning like a torch fell from the sky;22 it landed23 on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 8:11 (Now24 the name of the star is25 Wormwood.)26 So27 a third of the waters became wormwood,28 and many people died from these waters because they were poisoned.29

8:12 Then30 the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. And there was no light for a third of the day31 and for a third of the night likewise. 8:13 Then32 I looked, and I heard an33 eagle34 flying directly overhead,35 proclaiming with a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them!”36

9:1 Then1 the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky2 to the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the abyss.3 9:2 He4 opened the shaft of the abyss and smoke rose out of it5 like smoke from a giant furnace. The6 sun and the air were darkened with smoke from the shaft. 9:3 Then7 out of the smoke came locusts onto the earth, and they were given power8 like that of the scorpions of the earth. 9:4 They9 were told10 not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree, but only those people11 who did not have the seal of God on their12 forehead. 9:5 The locusts13 were not given permission14 to kill15 them, but only to torture16 them17 for five months, and their torture was like that18 of a scorpion when it stings a person.19 9:6 In20 those days people21 will seek death, but22 will not be able to23 find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

9:7 Now24 the locusts looked like horses equipped for battle. On25 their heads were something like crowns similar to gold,26 and their faces looked like men’s27 faces. 9:8 They28 had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9:9 They had breastplates29 like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. 9:10 They have30 tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability31 to injure people for five months is in their tails. 9:11 They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.32

9:12 The first woe has passed, but33 two woes are still coming after these things!

9:13 Then34 the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a single voice coming from the35 horns on the golden altar that is before God, 9:14 saying to the sixth angel, the one holding36 the trumpet, “Set free37 the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!” 9:15 Then38 the four angels who had been prepared for this39 hour, day,40 month, and year were set free to kill41 a third of humanity. 9:16 The42 number of soldiers on horseback was two hundred million;43 I heard their number. 9:17 Now44 this is what the horses and their riders45 looked like in my46 vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red,47 dark blue,48 and sulfurous49 yellow in color.50 The51 heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur52 came out of their mouths. 9:18 A third of humanity was killed by these three plagues, that is,53 by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths. 9:19 For the power54 of the horses resides55 in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails are like snakes, having heads that inflict injuries. 9:20 The rest of humanity, who had not been killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so that they did not stop worshiping demons and idols made56 of gold, silver,57 bronze, stone, and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk about. 9:21 Furthermore,58 they did not repent of their murders, of their magic spells,59 of their sexual immorality, or of their stealing.