The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8 When the Lamb opened the ^rseventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much ^sincense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on ^tthe golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar ^uand threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings,^{1 v}flashes of lightning, and an ^wearthquake.

The Seven Trumpets

6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed ^xhail and ^yfire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And ^za third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, ^aburning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea ^bbecame blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea ^cdied, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star ^dfell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood.² A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.

12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of ^ethe sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be ^fdarkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, ^g“Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star ^hfallen from heaven to earth, and he was given ⁱthe key to the shaft of ^jthe bottomless pit.¹ 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose ^ksmoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came ^llocusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told ^mnot to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but ⁿonly those people who do not have the ^oseal of God ^pon their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people ^qwill seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 ^rIn appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and ^stheir teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was ^tlike the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is ^uAbaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.²

12 The first ^vwoe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from ^wthe four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill ^xa third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; ^yI heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire³ and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^zdid not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his ^aface was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^b“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and ^cdo not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^draised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the ^etrumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and ^feat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be ^gsweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a ^hmeasuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure ⁱthe court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will ^jtrample the holy city for ^kforty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^l1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are ^mthe two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, ⁿfire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have ^othe power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to ^pturn them into blood and ^qto strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ^rrises from the bottomless pit^{1 s}will make war on them and ^tconquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of ^uthe great city that symbolically² is called ^vSodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the ^wpeoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days ^xa breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ^y“Come up here!” And they ^zwent up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a ^agreat earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second ^bwoe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

15 Then the seventh angel blew his ^ctrumpet, and there were ^dloud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord ^eand of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the ^ftwenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God ^gfell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

19 Then God’s temple in heaven ^lwas opened, and the ^mark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were ⁿflashes of lightning, rumblings,³ peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy ^ohail.

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great ^psign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red ^qdragon, with ^rseven heads and ^sten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down ^ta third of the stars of heaven and ^ucast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is ^vto rule¹ all the nations ^wwith a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^x1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

7 Now war arose in heaven, ^yMichael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was ^zthrown down, ^athat ancient serpent, who is called the ^bdevil and Satan, the ^cdeceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a ^dloud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the ^eauthority of ^fhis Christ have come, for the ^gaccuser of our brothers² has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have ^hconquered him by the blood of the ⁱLamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^jthey loved not their lives even ^kunto death. 12 Therefore, ^lrejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^mwoe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two ⁿwings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^ofor a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on ^pthose who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood³ on the sand of the sea.