Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Chapter 9

The Fifth Trumpet: the First Woe.^{[a] 1} Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. He was given the key to the shaft leading down to the abyss. ² When he unlocked the shaft of the abyss, smoke rose up from the abyss like smoke from a huge furnace, so that the sun and the sky were darkened by the smoke from the abyss. ³ And out of the smoke locusts dropped down onto the earth, and they were given the same powers that scorpions have on the earth. ⁴ They were commanded not to damage the grass or the earth or any plant or tree, and they were told to attack only those people who did not have God’s seal on their foreheads.

⁵ They were given permission to torture these people for five months, but they were not allowed to kill them, and the torment they were to inflict was to be like that of a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶ During that time, these people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

⁷ In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads they wore what appeared to be gold crowns. Their faces were like human faces, ⁸ and their hair was like women’s hair. Their teeth were like lions’ teeth, ⁹ and their chests were like iron breastplates. The sound of their wings was like the rumble of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.

¹⁰ These locusts had tails and stings like those of scorpions, and in their tails they had the power to torment people for five months. ¹¹ They had as their king the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

¹² The first woe has passed, but two more are still to come.

¹³ The Sixth Trumpet: the Second Woe.^[b] Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice^[c] emanating from the horns of the gold altar that stood in the presence of God. ¹⁴ It said to the sixth angel who was holding the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

¹⁵ And so the four angels, who had been held in readiness for this very hour, day, month, and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.^{[d] 16} The number of their cavalry troops was two hundred million. This was the number I heard.

¹⁷ This is how I saw the horses and their riders in my vision. The riders wore breastplates in shades of red, blue, and yellow. The heads of the horses were like heads of lions, and issuing forth from their mouths were fire, smoke, and sulfur. ¹⁸ By these three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that poured forth from their mouths, a third of mankind was killed. ¹⁹ The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails were like serpents, with heads that inflicted harm.

²⁰ However, the rest of mankind who survived these plagues did not repent of the work of their hands or cease their worship of demons^[e] and of idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. ²¹ Nor did they repent of their murders, their sorcery, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

Chapter 10

A Small Scroll: Sweet and Bitter.^{[f] 1} Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, his legs were like pillars of fire, ² and his hand held a small scroll that had been opened.

Placing his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³ the angel gave forth a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders spoke. ⁴ After the seven thunders had spoken, I was preparing to write when I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have spoken, but do not write it down.”

⁵ Then the angel whom I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by him who lives forever and ever and who created heaven and earth and the sea and everything that is in them: “There will be no further delay. ⁷ When the time comes for the seventh angel to sound his trumpet, the mysterious purpose of God^[g] will be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the Prophets.”

⁸ Then I again heard the voice that had spoken to me from heaven, and it said, “Go and take that open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ Therefore, I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. He replied, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”

¹⁰ I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. In my mouth it did taste as sweet as honey, but when I had eaten it my stomach turned sour. ¹¹ Then I was told, “You must prophesy once again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

Chapter 11

The Two Witnesses and the Fate of Jerusalem.^{[h] 1} I was next given a staff to use as a measuring rod, and I was told, “Go forth and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the people who are worshiping there. ² However, exclude the outer court of the temple from your measurements, because it has been handed over to the Gentiles and they will trample on the holy city for forty-two months.^{[i] 3} I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for those twelve hundred and sixty days, wearing sackcloth.”

⁴ These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand in the presence of the Lord of the earth. ⁵ If anyone tries to harm them, fire pours forth from their mouths and consumes their enemies. Anyone who attempts to harm them will surely be killed in this manner. ⁶ They have the power to shut up the sky so that it does not rain during the time they are prophesying. They also have the power to turn water into blood and to afflict the earth with every type of plague as often as they desire.

⁷ When they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will wage war against them and overpower and kill them. ⁸ Their corpses will lie in the street of the great city, known by the symbolic names of Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

⁹ People of every race, tribe, nation, and language will gaze at their corpses for three and a half days and refuse to allow them to be buried. ¹⁰ The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them as they celebrate and exchange gifts, because these two prophets had been a source of torment to them.

¹¹ However, after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and when they rose to their feet, great terror filled those who saw them. ¹² Then I heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, “Come up here,” and while their enemies were watching, they went up to heaven in a cloud.

¹³ At that very hour there was a violent earthquake, and a tenth of the city was destroyed. Seven thousand people were killed during the earthquake. Those who survived were overcome with fear and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second woe has passed, but the third will come quickly.

¹⁵ The Seventh Trumpet: the Third Woe.^[j] The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and voices in heaven were heard crying loudly:

¹⁶ Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones in the presence of God prostrated themselves and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying:

¹⁹ Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant^[k] was seen within his temple. There followed flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm.