啟示錄 9
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
9 第五位天使吹號的時候，我見有一顆星從天上墜落到地上，有無底坑的鑰匙賜給它。 2 它打開無底坑時，濃煙從坑裡冒出來，好像大火爐的煙一樣，太陽和天空都變得昏暗了。 3 有蝗蟲從煙裡飛出來，落到地上，有地上蠍子的能力賜給牠們。 4 牠們得到命令，不得毀壞地上的青草、樹木和其他植物，只傷害額上沒有上帝印記的人， 5 但不可殺死他們，只折磨他們五個月。那種折磨就像被蠍子蟄到一樣。 6 那時候，人求死，卻求不到；想死，死卻躲避他們。
7 那些蝗蟲好像預備出征的戰馬一樣，頭上好像戴了金冠，面孔好像人臉， 8 毛髮好像女人的頭髮，牙齒好像獅子的牙， 9 胸前有甲，如同鐵甲，鼓動翅膀時聲音如同千軍萬馬奔赴戰場。 10 牠們像蠍子一樣尾巴上有毒鉤，可以折磨人五個月。 11 牠們的王是無底坑的天使，希伯來文名叫亞巴頓，希臘文名叫亞玻倫，意思是「毀滅者」。
12 第一樣災禍過去了，另外兩樣接踵而來。
13 第六位天使吹號的時候，我聽見有一個聲音從上帝面前的金祭壇的四個角發出來， 14 對剛才吹號的第六位天使說：「將那捆綁在幼發拉底河的四個天使放出來！」 15 那四個天使就被釋放了，他們為了此年、此月、此日、此刻已經預備好了，要殺掉人類的三分之一。 16 我聽見他們共有二億兵馬。 17 我在異象中看見了馬和騎士。騎士胸甲的顏色像火焰、紫瑪瑙和硫磺。馬的頭像獅子的頭，口中噴出火、煙和硫磺。 18 馬口中噴出的這三樣災害殺死了世上三分之一的人口。 19 這些馬的殺傷力不只在口，也在尾巴。牠們的尾巴像蛇，有頭能咬傷人。
20 其餘沒有被這些災害所殺的人仍不肯悔改、停止手中的惡行，還是去拜魔鬼和那些用金、銀、銅、石、木所造，不能看、不能聽、不能行走的偶像。 21 他們不肯爲自己所犯的兇殺、邪術、淫亂和偷盜悔改。
Revelation 9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 9
The Fifth Trumpet.[a] 1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star[b] that had fallen from the sky to the earth. It was given the key for the passage to the abyss. 2 It opened the passage to the abyss,(A) and smoke came up out of the passage like smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the passage.(B) 3 Locusts came out of the smoke onto the land, and they were given the same power as scorpions[c] of the earth.(C) 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or any tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torment them for five months;[d] the torment they inflicted was like that of a scorpion when it stings a person. 6 During that time these people will seek death but will not find it, and they will long to die but death will escape them.(D)
7 [e]The appearance of the locusts was like that of horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,(E) 8 and they had hair like women’s hair. Their teeth were like lions’ teeth,(F) 9 and they had chests like iron breastplates. The sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots racing into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, with stingers; with their tails they had power to harm people for five months. 11 They had as their king the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon[f] and in Greek Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed, but there are two more to come.
The Sixth Trumpet.[g] 13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the [four][h] horns of the gold altar before God,(G) 14 telling the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels[i] who are bound at the banks of the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels were released, who were prepared for this hour, day, month, and year to kill a third of the human race. 16 The number of cavalry troops was two hundred million; I heard their number. 17 Now in my vision this is how I saw the horses and their riders. They wore red, blue, and yellow breastplates,[j] and the horses’ heads were like heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.(H) 18 By these three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that came out of their mouths a third of the human race was killed. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like snakes, with heads that inflict harm.
20 The rest of the human race, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands,[k] to give up the worship of demons and idols made from gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.(I) 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic potions, their unchastity, or their robberies.
Footnotes
- 9:1–12 The fifth trumpet heralds a woe containing elements from the eighth and ninth plagues of Egypt (Ex 10:12–15, 21–23) but specifically reminiscent of the invasion of locusts in Jl 1:4–2:10.
- 9:1 A star: late Judaism represented fallen powers as stars (Is 14:12–15; Lk 10:18; Jude 13), but a comparison with Rev 1:20 and Rev 20:1 suggests that here it means an angel. The passage to the abyss: referring to Sheol, the netherworld, where Satan and the fallen angels are kept for a thousand years, to be cast afterwards into the pool of fire; cf. Rev 20:7–10. The abyss was conceived of as a vast subterranean cavern full of fire. Its only link with the earth was a kind of passage or mine shaft, which was kept locked.
- 9:3 Scorpions: their poisonous sting was proverbial; Ez 2:6; Lk 11:12.
- 9:5 For five months: more or less corresponding to the life-span of locusts.
- 9:7–10 Eight characteristics are listed to show the eschatological and diabolical nature of these locusts.
- 9:11 Abaddon: Hebrew (more precisely, Aramaic) for destruction or ruin. Apollyon: Greek for the “Destroyer.”
- 9:13–21 The sixth trumpet heralds a woe representing another diabolical attack symbolized by an invasion by the Parthians living east of the Euphrates; see note on Rev 6:2. At the appointed time (Rev 9:15), the frightful horses act as God’s agents of judgment. The imaginative details are not to be taken literally; see Introduction and the note on Rev 6:12–14.
- 9:13 [Four]: many Greek manuscripts and versions omit the word. The horns were situated at the four corners of the altar (Ex 27:2; 30:2–3); see note on Rev 8:3.
- 9:14–15 The four angels: they are symbolic of the destructive activity that will be extended throughout the universe.
- 9:17 Blue: literally, “hyacinth-colored.” Yellow: literally, “sulfurous.”
- 9:20 The works of their hands: i.e., the gods their hands had made.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.