Revelation 5-9

Complete Jewish Bible

5 Next I saw in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals; ² and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” ³ But no one in heaven, on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it. ⁴ I cried and cried, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it. ⁵ One of the elders said to me, “Don’t cry. Look, the Lion of the tribe of Y’hudah, the Root of David, has won the right to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw standing there with the throne and the four living beings, in the circle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been slaughtered. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of the One sitting on the throne. ⁸ When he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down in front of the Lamb. Each one held a harp and gold bowls filled with pieces of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people; ⁹ and they sang a new song,

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the sound of a vast number of angels — thousands and thousands, millions and millions! They were all around the throne, the living beings and the elders; ¹² and they shouted out,

¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth and on the sea — yes, everything in them — saying,

¹⁴ The four living beings said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped.

6 Next I watched as the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living beings say in a thundering voice, “Go!” ² I looked, and there in front of me was a white horse; its rider had a bow and was given a crown; and he rode off as a conqueror to conquer.

³ When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Go!” ⁴ Another horse went out, a red one; and its rider was given the power to take peace away from the earth and make people slaughter each other. He was given a great sword.

⁵ When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Go!” I looked, and there in front of me was a black horse, and its rider held in his hand a pair of scales. ⁶ Then I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living beings say, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages! Six pounds of barley for the same price! But don’t damage the oil or the wine!”

⁷ When he broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living being say, “Go!” ⁸ I looked, and there in front of me was a pallid, sickly-looking horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Sh’ol followed behind him. They were given authority to kill one-quarter of the world by war, by famine, by plagues and with the wild animals of the earth.

⁹ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for proclaiming the Word of God, that is, for bearing witness. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice, “Sovereign Ruler, HaKadosh, the True One, how long will it be before you judge the people living on earth and avenge our blood?” ¹¹ Each of them was given a white robe; and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow-servants should be reached, of their brothers who would be killed, just as they had been.

¹² Then I watched as he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, the sun turned black as sackcloth worn in mourning, and the full moon became blood-red. ¹³ The stars fell from heaven to earth just as a fig tree drops its figs when shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴ The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. ¹⁵ Then the earth’s kings, the rulers, the generals, the rich and the mighty — indeed, everyone, slave and free — hid himself in caves and among the rocks in the mountains, ¹⁶ and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us^[a] from the face of the One sitting on the throne and from the fury of the Lamb! ¹⁷ For the Great Day of their fury has come, and who can stand?”

7 After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the land, on the sea or on any tree. ² I saw another angel coming up from the east with a seal from the living God, and he shouted to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea, ³ “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads!” ⁴ I heard how many were sealed — 144,000 from every tribe of the people of Isra’el:

⁹ After this, I looked; and there before me was a huge crowd, too large for anyone to count, from every nation, tribe, people and language. They were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands; ¹⁰ and they shouted,

¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne, the elders and the four living beings; they fell face down before the throne and worshipped God, saying,

¹³ One of the elders asked me, “These people dressed in white robes — who are they, and where are they from?” ¹⁴ “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” Then he told me, “These are the people who have come out of the Great Persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ That is why they are before God’s throne.

8 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for what seemed like half an hour. ² Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven shofars. ³ Another angel came and stood at the altar with a gold incense-bowl, and he was given a large quantity of incense to add to the prayers of all God’s people ⁴ on the gold altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of God’s people from the hand of the angel before God. ⁵ Then the angel took the incense-bowl, filled it with fire from the altar and threw it down onto the earth; and there followed peals of thunder, voices, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

⁶ Now the seven angels with the seven shofars prepared to sound them.

⁷ The first one sounded his shofar; and there came hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was thrown down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

⁸ The second angel sounded his shofar, and what looked like an enormous blazing mountain was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, ⁹ a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel sounded his shofar; and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky onto a third of the rivers and onto the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star was “Bitterness,” and a third of the water became bitter, and many people died from the water that had been turned bitter.

¹² The fourth angel sounded his shofar; and a third of the sun was struck, also a third of the moon and a third of the stars; so that a third of them were darkened, the day had a third less light, and the night likewise.

¹³ Then I looked, and I heard a lone eagle give a loud cry, as it flew in mid-heaven, “Woe! Woe! Woe to the people living on earth, because of the remaining blasts from the three angels who have yet to sound their shofars!”

9 The fifth angel sounded his shofar; and I saw a star that had fallen out of heaven onto the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft leading down to the Abyss. ² He opened the shaft of the Abyss, and there went up smoke from the shaft like the smoke of a huge furnace; the sun was darkened, and the sky too, by the smoke from the shaft. ³ Then out of the smoke onto the earth came locusts, and they were given power like the power scorpions have on earth. ⁴ They were instructed not to harm the grass on the earth, any green plant or any tree, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ The locusts were not allowed to kill them, only to inflict pain on them for five months; and the pain they caused was like the pain of a scorpion sting. ⁶ In those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

⁷ Now these locusts looked like horses outfitted for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold, and their faces were like human faces. ⁸ They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like those of lions. ⁹ Their chests were like iron breastplates, and the sound their wings made was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails like those of scorpions, with stings; and in their tails was their power to hurt people for five months. ¹¹ They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is “Abaddon” and in our language, “Destroyer.”

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

¹³ The sixth angel sounded his shofar, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the gold altar before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel, the one with the shofar, “Release the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates!” ¹⁵ And they were released. These four angels had been kept ready for this moment, for this day and month and year, to kill a third of mankind; ¹⁶ and the number of cavalry soldiers was two hundred million! — I heard the number.

¹⁷ Here is how the horses looked in the vision: the riders had breastplates that were fire-red, iris-blue and sulfur-yellow; the horses’ heads were like lions’ heads; and from their mouths issued fire, smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ It was these three plagues that killed a third of mankind — the fire, smoke and sulfur issuing from the horses’ mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses was in their mouths — and also in their tails, for their tails were like snakes with heads, and with them they could cause injury.

²⁰ The rest of mankind, those who were not killed by these plagues, even then did not turn from what they had made with their own hands — they did not stop worshipping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.^{[e] 21} Nor did they turn from their murdering, their involvement with the occult and with drugs, their sexual immorality or their stealing.