Revelation 6:1-8:6

Holman Christian Standard Bible

The First Seal on the Scroll

6 Then I saw^[a] the Lamb open one of the seven^[b] seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”^[c]^[d] ²I looked, and there was a white horse.^(A) The horseman on it had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a victor to conquer.^[e]

The Second Seal

³When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”^[f]^[g] ⁴Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered^[h] to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.^(B)

The Third Seal

⁵When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!”^[i]^[j] And I looked, and there was a black horse. The horseman on it had a set of scales in his hand. ⁶Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius—but do not harm the olive oil and the wine.”

The Fourth Seal

⁷When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”^[k]^[l] ⁸And I looked, and there was a pale green^[m] horse. The horseman on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. Authority was given to them^[n]^(C) over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.

The Fifth Seal

⁹When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the people^[o] slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had.^[p]^(D) ¹⁰They cried out with a loud voice: “Lord,^[q] the One who is holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” ¹¹So a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been.

The Sixth Seal

¹²Then I saw Him open^[r] the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth^(E) made of goat hair; the entire moon^[s] became like blood; ¹³the stars^[t] of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; ¹⁴the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

¹⁵Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.^(F) ¹⁶And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us^(G) from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷because the great day of Their^[u] wrath has come! And who is able to stand?”^(H)

The Sealed of Israel

7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,^(I) restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. ²Then I saw another angel, who had the seal of the living God rise up from the east. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were empowered^[v] to harm the earth and the sea: ³“Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴And I heard the number of those who were sealed:

144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:
⁵12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah,
12,000^[w] from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
⁶12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
⁷12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
⁸12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

⁹After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰And they cried out in a loud voice:

Salvation belongs to our God,
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!

¹¹All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying:

Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

¹³Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people robed in white, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴I said to him, “Sir,^[x] you know.”

Then he told me:

These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
They washed their robes and made them white^(J)
in the blood of the Lamb.
¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary.
The One seated on the throne will shelter^[y] them:
¹⁶They will no longer hunger;
they will no longer thirst;
the sun will no longer strike them,
nor will any heat.^(K)
¹⁷For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne
will shepherd them;^(L)
He will guide them to springs of living waters,^(M)
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.^(N)

The Seventh Seal

8 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ²Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them. ³Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. ⁴The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. ⁵The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were rumblings of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. ⁶And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.