Revelation 9-12

New American Standard Bible

The Fifth Trumpet: Shaft of the Abyss

9 Then the ^(A)fifth angel sounded, and I saw a ^(B)star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the ^(C)key to the ^(D)shaft of the abyss was given to him. ²He opened the shaft of the abyss, and ^(E)smoke ascended out of the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace; and ^(F)the sun and the air were darkened from the smoke of the shaft. ³Then out of the smoke came ^(G)locusts ^[a]upon the earth, and power was given them, as the ^(H)scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴They were told not to ^(I)hurt the ^(J)grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the people who do not have the ^(K)seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵And ^[b]they were not permitted to kill ^[c]anyone, but to torment for ^(L)five months; and their torment was like the torment of a ^(M)scorpion when it ^[d]stings a person. ⁶And in those days ^(N)people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death ^[e]will flee from them!

⁷The ^[f]^(O)appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like human faces. ⁸They had hair like the hair of women, and their ^(P)teeth were like the teeth of lions. ⁹They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the ^(Q)sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. ¹⁰They have tails like ^(R)scorpions, and stings; and in their ^(S)tails is their power to hurt people for ^(T)five months. ¹¹They have as king over them, the angel of the ^(U)abyss; his name in ^(V)Hebrew is ^[g]^(W)Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name ^[h]Apollyon.

¹²^(X)The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

The Sixth Trumpet: Army from the East

¹³Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard ^[i]a voice from the ^[j]four ^(Y)horns of the ^(Z)golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the ^(AA)four angels who are bound at the ^(AB)great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were ^(AC)released, so that they would kill a ^(AD)third of mankind. ¹⁶The number of the armies of the horsemen was ^(AE)two hundred million; ^(AF)I heard the number of them. ¹⁷And this is how I saw ^(AG)in my vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire, of hyacinth, and of ^[k]^(AH)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and ^(AI)out of their mouths *came fire and smoke and ^[l]^(AJ)brimstone. ¹⁸A ^(AK)third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the ^(AL)fire, the smoke, and the ^[m]brimstone which came out of their mouths. ¹⁹For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.

²⁰The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^(AM)did not repent of ^(AN)the works of their hands so as not to ^(AO)worship demons and ^(AP)the idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; ²¹and they ^(AQ)did not repent of their murders, nor of their ^(AR)witchcraft, nor of their ^(AS)sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 I saw another ^(AT)strong angel ^(AU)coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the ^(AV)rainbow was on his head, and ^(AW)his face was like the sun, and his ^(AX)feet like pillars of fire; ²and he had in his hand a ^(AY)little scroll, which was open. He placed ^(AZ)his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; ³and he cried out with a loud voice, ^(BA)as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the ^(BB)seven peals of thunder ^[n]uttered their voices. ⁴When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, ^(BC)I was about to write; and I ^(BD)heard a voice from heaven, saying, “^(BE)Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.” ⁵Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^(BF)raised his right hand to heaven, ⁶^(BG)and swore by ^(BH)Him who lives forever and ever, ^(BI)who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that ^(BJ)there will no longer be a delay, ⁷but in the days of the voice of the ^(BK)seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then ^(BL)the mystery of God is finished, as He announced to His servants the prophets.

⁸Then ^(BM)the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take ^(BN)the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who ^(BO)stands on the sea and on the land.” ⁹And I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. And he *said to me, “^(BP)Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹And ^(BQ)they *said to me, “You must ^(BR)prophesy again concerning ^(BS)many peoples, nations, languages, and ^(BT)kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then there was given to me a ^[o]^(BU)measuring rod like a staff; ^[p]and ^(BV)someone said, “Get up and measure the ^[q]temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. ²^[r]Leave out the ^(BW)courtyard which is outside the ^[s]temple and do not measure it, because ^(BX)it has been given to the nations; and they will ^(BY)trample ^(BZ)the holy city for ^(CA)forty-two months. ³And I will grant authority to my two ^(CB)witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^(CC)1,260 days, clothed in ^(CD)sackcloth.” ⁴These are the ^(CE)two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵And if anyone wants to harm them, ^(CF)fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and so if anyone wants to harm them, ^(CG)he must be killed in this way. ⁶These have the power to ^(CH)shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during ^(CI)the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to ^(CJ)turn them into blood, and ^(CK)to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

⁷When they have finished their testimony, ^(CL)the beast that comes up out of the ^(CM)abyss will ^(CN)make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. ⁸And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the ^(CO)great city which ^[t]spiritually is called ^(CP)Sodom and ^(CQ)Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹Those from ^(CR)the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead ^[u]bodies for three and a half days, and ^[v]^(CS)will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. ¹⁰And ^(CT)those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will ^(CU)send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented ^(CV)those who live on the earth.

¹¹And after the three and a half days, ^(CW)the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. ¹²And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “^(CX)Come up here.” And they ^(CY)went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³And ^[w]at that time there was a great ^(CZ)earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; ^[x]seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^(DA)gave glory to the ^(DB)God of heaven.

¹⁴The second ^(DC)woe has passed; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet: Christ’s Reign Foreseen

¹⁵Then the ^(DD)seventh angel sounded; and there were ^(DE)loud voices in heaven, saying,

“^(DF)The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of ^(DG)His ^[y]Christ; and ^(DH)He will reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶And the twenty-four elders, who ^(DI)sit on their thrones before God, ^(DJ)fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying,

“We give You thanks, ^(DK)Lord God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to ^(DL)reign. ¹⁸And ^(DM)the nations were enraged, and ^(DN)Your wrath came, and ^(DO)the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to ^[z]reward Your ^(DP)bond-servants the prophets and the ^[aa]saints and those who fear Your name, ^(DQ)the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹And ^(DR)the ^[ab]temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and ^(DS)the ark of His covenant appeared in His ^[ac]temple, and there were flashes of ^(DT)lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a ^(DU)great ^[ad]hailstorm.

The Woman, Israel

12 A great ^(DV)sign appeared ^(DW)in heaven: ^(DX)a woman ^(DY)clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; ²and she was pregnant and she *^(DZ)cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.

The Red Dragon, Satan

³Then ^(EA)another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red ^(EB)dragon having ^(EC)seven heads and ^(ED)ten horns, and on his heads were ^(EE)seven crowns. ⁴And his tail *swept away a ^(EF)third of the stars of heaven and ^(EG)hurled them to the earth. And the ^(EH)dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth ^(EI)he might devour her Child.

The Male Child, Christ

⁵And ^(EJ)she gave birth to a Son, a male, who is going to ^[ae]^(EK)rule all the ^[af]nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was ^(EL)caught up to God and to His throne. ⁶Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there ^[ag]she would be nourished for ^(EM)1,260 days.

The Angel, Michael

⁷And there was war in heaven, ^(EN)Michael and his angels waging war with the ^(EO)dragon. The dragon and ^(EP)his angels waged war, ⁸and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. ⁹And the great ^(EQ)dragon was thrown down, the ^(ER)serpent of old who is called the devil and ^(ES)Satan, who ^(ET)deceives the whole ^[ah]world; he was ^(EU)thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰Then I heard ^(EV)a loud voice in heaven, saying,

“Now the ^(EW)salvation, and the power, and the ^(EX)kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the ^(EY)accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night. ¹¹And they ^(EZ)overcame him because of ^(FA)the blood of the Lamb and because of ^(FB)the word of their testimony, and they ^(FC)did not love their life even ^[ai]when faced with death. ¹²For this reason, ^(FD)rejoice, you heavens and ^(FE)you who dwell in them. ^(FF)Woe to the earth and the sea, because ^(FG)the devil has come down to you with great wrath, knowing that he has only ^(FH)a short time.”

¹³And when the ^(FI)dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted ^(FJ)the woman who gave birth to the male Child. ¹⁴But the ^(FK)two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly ^(FL)into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for ^(FM)a time, times, and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent. ¹⁵And the ^(FN)serpent hurled water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. ¹⁶^[aj]But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon had hurled out of his mouth. ¹⁷So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to ^(FO)make war with the rest of her ^[ak]^(FP)children, who ^(FQ)keep the commandments of God and ^(FR)hold to the testimony of Jesus.