The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8 When the Lamb opened ^(A)the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ² Then I saw the seven angels ^(B)who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. ³ And another angel came and stood ^(C)at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with ^(D)the prayers of all the saints on ^(E)the golden altar before the throne, ⁴ and ^(F)the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer and ^(G)filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and ^(H)there were peals of ^(I)thunder, rumblings,^[a] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Seven Trumpets

⁶ Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed ^(J)hail and ^(K)fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a ^(L)third of the earth was burned up, and a third of ^(M)the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

⁸ The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like ^(N)a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea ^(O)became blood. ⁹ A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of ^(P)the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel blew his trumpet, and ^(Q)a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on ^(R)the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Wormwood.^[b] A third of the waters ^(S)became wormwood, and many people died from the water, ^(T)because it had been made bitter.

¹² The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of ^(U)the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

¹³ Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, ^(V)“Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and ^(W)I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given ^(X)the key to the shaft of ^(Y)the bottomless pit.^{[c] 2} He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft ^(Z)rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and ^(AA)the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. ³ Then from the smoke came ^(AB)locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told ^(AC)not to harm ^(AD)the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have ^(AE)the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were allowed to torment them ^(AF)for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶ And in those days ^(AG)people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

^7 (AH)In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: ^(AI)on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were ^(AJ)like human faces, ⁸ their hair like women's hair, and ^(AK)their teeth like lions' teeth; ⁹ they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was ^(AL)like the noise of many chariots with ^(AM)horses rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people ^(AN)for five months is in their tails. ¹¹ They have ^(AO)as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is ^(AP)Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.^[d]

^12 (AQ)The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

¹³ Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from ^(AR)the four horns of the golden altar before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release ^(AS)the four angels who are bound at ^(AT)the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released ^(AU)to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of ^(AV)mounted troops was ^(AW)twice ten thousand times ten thousand; ^(AX)I heard their number. ¹⁷ And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire^[e] and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were ^(AY)like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. ¹⁸ By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

²⁰ The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^(AZ)did not repent of ^(BA)the works of their hands nor give up worshiping ^(BB)demons ^(BC)and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, ²¹ nor did they repent of their murders or their ^(BD)sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.