Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit

Then the fifth angel sounded: (A)And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to (B)the [a]bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the (C)sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, (D)as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded (E)not to harm (F)the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have (G)the seal of God on their foreheads. And [b]they were not given authority to kill them, (H)but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days (I)men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

(J)The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. (K)On their heads were crowns of something like gold, (L)and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and (M)their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was (N)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 (O)the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is [c]Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name [d]Apollyon.

12 (P)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 (Q)golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound (R)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 (S)third of mankind. 16 Now (T)the number of the army (U)of the horsemen was two hundred million; (V)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; (W)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 [e]their power is in their mouth and in their tails; (X)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, (Y)did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship (Z)demons, (AA)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 (AB)or their [f]sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 9:1 Lit. shaft of the abyss
  2. Revelation 9:5 The locusts
  3. Revelation 9:11 Lit. Destruction
  4. Revelation 9:11 Lit. Destroyer
  5. Revelation 9:19 NU, M the power of the horses
  6. Revelation 9:21 NU, M drugs

The Fifth Trumpet Brings the First Terror

Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.[a] When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.

Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!

The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people. 11 Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.

12 The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!

The Sixth Trumpet Brings the Second Terror

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. 14 And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.” 15 Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth. 16 I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.

17 And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. 18 One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. 19 Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.

20 But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Footnotes

  1. 9:1 Or the abyss, or the underworld; also in 9:11.