Revelation 8-10

New King James Version

Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets

8 When^(A) He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ^2 (B)And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, ^(C)and to them were given seven trumpets. ³ Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with ^(D)the prayers of all the saints upon ^(E)the golden altar which was before the throne. ⁴ And ^(F)the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And ^(G)there were noises, thunderings, ^(H)lightnings, ^(I)and an earthquake.

⁶ So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck

⁷ The first angel sounded: ^(J)And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown ^(K)to the ^[a]earth. And a third ^(L)of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck

⁸ Then the second angel sounded: ^(M)And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, ^(N)and a third of the sea ^(O)became blood. ^9 (P)And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck

¹⁰ Then the third angel sounded: ^(Q)And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, ^(R)and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ^11 (S)The name of the star is Wormwood. ^(T)A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck

^12 (U)Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day ^[b]did not shine, and likewise the night.

¹³ And I looked, ^(V)and I heard an ^[c]angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, ^(W)“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit

9 Then the fifth angel sounded: ^(X)And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to ^(Y)the ^[d]bottomless pit. ² And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the ^(Z)sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. ³ Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, ^(AA)as the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴ They were commanded ^(AB)not to harm ^(AC)the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have ^(AD)the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ And ^[e]they were not given authority to kill them, ^(AE)but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. ⁶ In those days ^(AF)men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

^7 (AG)The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. ^(AH)On their heads were crowns of something like gold, ^(AI)and their faces were like the faces of men. ⁸ They had hair like women’s hair, and ^(AJ)their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was ^(AK)like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. ¹¹ And they had as king over them ^(AL)the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is ^[f]Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name ^[g]Apollyon.

^12 (AM)One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates

¹³ Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the ^(AN)golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound ^(AO)at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a ^(AP)third of mankind. ¹⁶ Now ^(AQ)the number of the army ^(AR)of the horsemen was two hundred million; ^(AS)I heard the number of them. ¹⁷ And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; ^(AT)and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. ¹⁸ By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. ¹⁹ For ^[h]their power is in their mouth and in their tails; ^(AU)for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.

²⁰ But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^(AV)did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship ^(AW)demons, ^(AX)and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. ²¹ And they did not repent of their murders ^(AY)or their ^[i]sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

The Mighty Angel with the Little Book

10 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. ^(AZ)And a rainbow was on ^(BA)his head, his face was like the sun, and ^(BB)his feet like pillars of fire. ² He had a little book open in his hand. ^(BC)And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³ and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, ^(BD)seven thunders uttered their voices. ⁴ Now when the seven thunders ^[j]uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying ^[k]to me, ^(BE)“Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

⁵ The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^(BF)raised up his ^[l]hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, ^(BG)who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, ^(BH)that there should be delay no longer, ⁷ but ^(BI)in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

John Eats the Little Book

⁸ Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.”

⁹ So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”

And he said to me, ^(BJ)“Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

¹⁰ Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, ^(BK)and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, ^(BL)my stomach became bitter. ¹¹ And ^[m]he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”