The Vision of the Seven Seals: The First Four Seals

6 And I watched when the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. And I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come.”^[a]

² And I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider held a bow. A crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

³ When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come.”^{[b] 4} And another horse, a fiery red one, went out. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth so that people would slaughter one another. And a great sword was given to him.

⁵ When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come.”^[c] And I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider had a scale in his hand. ⁶ And I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures say, “A quart^[d] of wheat for a denarius,^[e] and three quarts^[f] of barley for a denarius. And do not dilute^[g] the oil and the wine.”

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come.”^{[h] 8} And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. And its rider was named Death, and the Grave^[i] followed closely behind him. They were given power over a quarter of the earth, to kill people with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth.

The Fifth Seal: The Souls Under the Altar

⁹ When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, under the incense altar I saw the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had maintained. ¹⁰ And they called out with a loud voice, saying, “O Lord, holy and true, how long until you judge and exact justice for our blood from those who live on the earth?” ¹¹ A white robe was given to each one of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until their number would be complete, when their fellow servants and their brothers^[j] would be put to death as they were.

The Sixth Seal: The Last Judgment

¹² And I watched when the Lamb opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair. The entire moon became like blood. ¹³ The stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when it is shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴ The sky was removed like a scroll being rolled up. Every mountain and island was moved from its place.

¹⁵ The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military leaders, the rich, the powerful, and everyone—slave or free—hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they kept saying to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ for the great day of their^[k] wrath has come. Who is able to stand?”