Revelation 6-11

International Standard Version

The Vision of the First Seal Opened

6 Then I saw the lamb open the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Go!” ² Then I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow, and a victor’s crown had been given to him. He went out as a conqueror to conquer.

The Vision of the Second Seal Opened

³ When the lamb^[a] opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Go!” ⁴ A second horse went out. It was fiery red, and its rider was given permission to take peace away from the earth and to make people slaughter one another. So he was given a large sword.

The Vision of the Third Seal Opened

⁵ When the lamb^[b] opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Go!” I looked, and there was a black horse! Its rider held a scale in his hand. ⁶ I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “One day’s ration of wheat for a day’s wage, or three day’s ration of barley for a day’s wage!^[c] But don’t damage the olive oil or the wine!”

The Vision of the Fourth Seal Opened

⁷ When the lamb^[d] opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Go!” ⁸ I looked, and there was a pale green horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades^[e] followed him. They were given authority over one-fourth of the earth to kill people using wars, famines, plagues, and the wild animals of the earth.

The Vision of the Fifth Seal Opened

⁹ When the lamb^[f] opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice,

¹¹ Each of them was given a white robe. They were told to rest a little longer until the number of^[g] their fellow servants and their brothers was completed, who would be killed as they themselves had been.

The Vision of the Sixth Seal Opened

¹² Then I saw the lamb^[h] open the sixth seal. There was a powerful earthquake. The sun turned as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon turned as red as blood.^{[i] 13} The stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree drops its fruit when it is shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴ The sky vanished like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and all the slaves and free people concealed themselves in caves and among the rocks in the mountains. ¹⁶ They told the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. ¹⁷ For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to endure it?”

The Vision of the Sealing of 144,000 People

7 After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the land, on the sea, or on any tree. ² I saw another angel coming from the east having the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been permitted to harm the land and sea, ³ “Don’t harm the land, the sea, or the trees until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.”

⁴ I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe of Israel: ⁵ 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, ⁶ 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, ⁷ 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, ⁸ 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, and 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

The Vision of Tribulation Saints

⁹ After these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice,

¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces in front of the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying,

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

¹⁴ I told him, “Sir, you know.”

Then he told me, “These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering.^[j] They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. ¹⁵ That is why:

The Vision of the Seventh Seal Opened

8 When the lamb^[m] opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

The Vision of Seven Angels Given Seven Trumpets

² Then I saw the seven angels who stand in God’s presence, and seven trumpets were given to them. ³ Another angel came with a gold censer and stood at the altar. He was given a large quantity of incense to offer on the gold altar before the throne, along with the prayers of all the saints. ⁴ The smoke from the incense and the prayers of the saints went up from the angel’s hand to God. ⁵ The angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. Then there were peals of thunder, noises, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. ⁶ The seven angels who had the seven trumpets got ready to blow them.

The Vision of the First Four Trumpets

⁷ When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire were mixed with blood and thrown on the earth. One-third of the earth was burned up, one-third of the trees was burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸ When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a huge mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹ one-third of the creatures that were living in the sea died, and one-third of the ships was destroyed.

¹⁰ When the third angel blew his trumpet, a huge star blazing like a torch fell from heaven. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Wormwood. One-third of the water turned into wormwood, and many people died from the water because it had turned bitter.

¹² When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, one-third of the sun, one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars were struck so that one-third of them turned dark. One-third of the day was kept from having light, as was the night.

The Vision of the Eagle Flying

¹³ Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying overhead say in a loud voice,

The Vision of the Fifth Trumpet

9 When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen to earth^[n] from the sky.^[o] The star^[p] was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.^{[q] 2} It opened the shaft of the bottomless pit,^[r] and smoke came out of the shaft like the smoke from a large furnace. The sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. ³ Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth, and they were given power like that of earthly scorpions. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass on the earth, any green plant, or any tree. They could harm^[s] only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were not allowed to kill them, but were only allowed^[t] to torture them for five months. Their torture was like the pain of a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶ In those days people will seek death, but never find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were victor’s crowns that looked like gold, and their faces were like human faces. ⁸ They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like lions’ teeth. ⁹ They had breastplates like iron, and the noise of their wings was like the roar of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails and stingers like scorpions, and they had the power to hurt people with their tails for five months. ¹¹ They had the angel of the bottomless pit^[u] ruling over them as king. In Hebrew he is called Abaddon,^[v] and in Greek he is called Apollyon.^[w]

¹² The first catastrophe is over. After these things, there are still two more catastrophes to come.

The Vision of the Sixth Trumpet

¹³ When the sixth angel blew his trumpet, I heard a voice from the four^[x] horns of the gold altar in front of God. ¹⁴ It told the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are held at the great Euphrates River.” ¹⁵ So the four angels who were ready for that hour, day, month, and year were released to kill one-third of humanity. ¹⁶ The number of cavalry troops was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were.^[y]

¹⁷ This was how I saw the horses in my vision: The riders wore breastplates that had the color of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths. ¹⁸ By these three plagues—the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths—one-third of humanity was killed. ¹⁹ For the power of these horses is in their mouths and their tails. Their tails have heads like snakes, which they use to inflict pain.

²⁰ The rest of the people who survived these plagues did not repent from their evil actions^[z] or stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. ²¹ They did not repent from their murders, their witchcraft, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

The Vision of the Powerful Angel

10 Then I saw another powerful angel come down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud, and there was a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like columns of fire. ² He held a small, opened scroll in his hand. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³ he shouted in a loud voice as a lion roars. When he shouted, the seven thunders spoke with voices of their own. ⁴ When the seven thunders spoke, I was going to write, but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and don’t write it down.”

⁵ Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶ He swore an oath by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: “There will be no more delay. ⁷ When the time approaches^[aa] for the seventh angel to blow his trumpet, God’s secret plan^[ab] will be fulfilled, as he had announced to his servants, the prophets.”

⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go and take the opened scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. “Take it and eat it,” he told me. “It will turn bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

¹⁰ So I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it turned bitter in my stomach. ¹¹ Then the seven thunders^[ac] told me, “You must prophesy again about many people, nations, languages, and kings.”

The Vision of the Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a stick like a measuring rod. I was told, “Stand up and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count^[ad] those who worship there. ² But don’t measure the courtyard outside the Temple. Leave that out, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the Holy City^[ae] for 42 months. ³ I will give my two witnesses who wear sackcloth the authority to prophesy for 1,260 days.”

⁴ These witnesses^[af] are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing in the presence of the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone should want to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouths and burns up their enemies. If anyone wants to hurt them, he must be killed in this manner. ⁶ These witnesses^[ag] have authority to close the heavens in order to keep rain from falling while they are^[ah] prophesying. They also have authority to turn bodies of water into blood and to strike the earth with any plague, as often as they desire.

⁷ When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit^[ai] will wage war against them, conquer them, and kill them. ⁸ Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days some members of the people, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies and will not allow them to be placed in a tomb. ¹⁰ Those living on earth will gloat over them, celebrate, and send gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those living on earth.

The Resurrection of the Witnesses

¹¹ But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Those who watched them were terrified. ¹² Then the witnesses^[aj] heard a loud voice from heaven calling to them, “Come up here!” So they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ At that moment a powerful earthquake struck. One-tenth of the city collapsed, 7,000 people were killed by the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second catastrophe is over. The third catastrophe is coming very soon.

The Vision of the Seventh Angel Blowing His Trumpet

¹⁵ When the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying,

¹⁶ Then the twenty-four elders who were sitting on their thrones in God’s presence fell on their faces and worshipped God. ¹⁷ They said,

¹⁹ Then the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen inside his Temple. There were flashes of lightning, noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.