³ And out of the smoke locusts^(A) came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions^(B) of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm^(C) the grass of the earth or any plant or tree,^(D) but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.^{(E) 5} They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months.^(F) And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion^(G) when it strikes.