Revelation 16
New Matthew Bible
The angels pour out their vials full of wrath.
16 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways; pour out your vials of wrath upon the earth.
2 And the first went and poured out his vial upon the earth, and there fell a foul and a grievous sore upon all who had the mark of the beast, and upon those who worshipped his image.
3 And the second angel shed out his vial upon the sea, and it turned as it were into the blood of a dead man. And every living thing died in the sea.
4 And the third angel shed out his vial upon the rivers and springs of waters, and they turned to blood. 5 And I heard an angel say, Lord who is and who was, you are righteous and holy, because you have given such judgments. 6 For they shed the blood of saints and prophets, and therefore you have given them blood to drink, for they have deserved it.
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, It is so, Lord God Almighty; true and righteous are your judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun, and power was given to him to afflict people with the heat of fire. 9 And the people raged in the great heat, and spoke evil of the name of God, who has power over these plagues. And they did not repent, to give him glory.
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was made dark. And people gnawed their tongues for suffering, 11 and blasphemed the God of heaven for the anguish and pain of their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water dried up, to prepare the ways of the kings of the east. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils working miracles, to go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Happy is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he be found naked and men see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured his vial out into the air. And there came a voice out of heaven from the seat, saying, It is done! 18 And there followed voices, thunderings, and lightnings. And there was a great earthquake, such as was not since man has been upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts. And the cities of all the nations fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 Every isle fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell out of heaven a great hail, as if of talents, upon people. And the people blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for it was great, and the plague of it sore.
Revelation 16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 16
The Seven Bowls.[a] 1 I heard a loud voice speaking from the temple to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s fury upon the earth.”
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Festering and ugly sores broke out on those who had the mark of the beast or worshiped its image.[b]
3 [c]The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. The sea turned to blood like that from a corpse; every creature living in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water. These also turned to blood.(A) 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
“You are just, O Holy One,
who are and who were,
in passing this sentence.(B)
6 For they have shed the blood of the holy ones and the prophets,
and you [have] given them blood to drink;
it is what they deserve.”(C)
7 Then I heard the altar cry out,
“Yes, Lord God almighty,
your judgments are true and just.”(D)
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. It was given the power to burn people with fire. 9 People were burned by the scorching heat and blasphemed the name of God who had power over these plagues, but they did not repent or give him glory.(E)
10 (F)The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast.[d] Its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and people bit their tongues in pain 11 and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their works.(G)
12 The sixth angel emptied his bowl on the great river Euphrates. Its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.[e] 13 I saw three unclean spirits like frogs[f] come from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet.(H) 14 These were demonic spirits who performed signs. They went out to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle on the great day of God the almighty.(I) 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief.”[g] Blessed is the one who watches and keeps his clothes ready, so that he may not go naked and people see him exposed.)(J) 16 They then assembled the kings in the place that is named Armageddon[h] in Hebrew.
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.”(K) 18 Then there were lightning flashes, rumblings, and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake. It was such a violent earthquake that there has never been one like it since the human race began on earth.(L) 19 The great city[i] was split into three parts, and the gentile cities fell. But God remembered great Babylon, giving it the cup filled with the wine of his fury and wrath. 20 [j]Every island fled, and mountains disappeared. 21 Large hailstones like huge weights came down from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God for the plague of hail because this plague was so severe.(M)
Footnotes
- 16:1–21 These seven bowls, like the seven seals (Rev 6:1–17; 8:1) and the seven trumpets (Rev 8:2–9:21; 11:15–19), bring on a succession of disasters modeled in part on the plagues of Egypt (Ex 7–12). See note on Rev 6:12–14.
- 16:2 Like the sixth Egyptian plague (Ex 9:8–11).
- 16:3–4 Like the first Egyptian plague (Ex 7:20–21). The same woe followed the blowing of the second trumpet (Rev 8:8–9).
- 16:10 The throne of the beast: symbol of the forces of evil. Darkness: like the ninth Egyptian plague (Ex 10:21–23); cf. Rev 9:2.
- 16:12 The kings of the East: Parthians; see notes on Rev 6:2 and Rev 17:12–13. East: literally, “rising of the sun,” as in Rev 7:2.
- 16:13 Frogs: possibly an allusion to the second Egyptian plague (Ex 7:26–8:11). The false prophet: identified with the two-horned second beast (Rev 13:11–18 and the note there).
- 16:15 Like a thief: as in Rev 3:3 (cf. Mt 24:42–44; 1 Thes 5:2). Blessed: see note on Rev 1:3.
- 16:16 Armageddon: in Hebrew, this means “Mountain of Megiddo.” Since Megiddo was the scene of many decisive battles in antiquity (Jgs 5:19–20; 2 Kgs 9:27; 2 Chr 35:20–24), the town became the symbol of the final disastrous rout of the forces of evil.
- 16:19 The great city: Rome and the empire.
- 16:20–21 See note on Rev 6:12–14. Hailstones: as in the seventh Egyptian plague (Ex 9:23–24); cf. Rev 8:7. Like huge weights: literally, “weighing a talent,” about one hundred pounds.
Copyright © 2016 by Ruth Magnusson (Davis). Includes emendations to February 2022. All rights reserved.
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.