Revelation 8
New Matthew Bible
The seventh seal is opened. There is silence in heaven. The four angels blow their trumpets, and great plagues follow upon the earth.
8 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 2 And I saw angels standing before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 And another angel came and stood before the altar having a golden censer, and much incense was given to him, that he should offer of the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that was before the seat. 4 And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of all the saints ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
5 And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it into the earth; and voices were made, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
6 And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to blow. 7 The first angel blew, and there was made hail and fire, which were mingled with blood. And they were cast into the earth, and the third part of trees was burnt, and all the green grass was burnt.
8 And the second angel blew, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea turned to blood. 9 And the third part of the creatures that had life in the sea died, and the third part of ships was destroyed.
10 And the third angel blew, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp. And it fell into the third part of the rivers, and into springs of waters. 11 And the name of the star is called wormwood. And the third part of the waters was turned to wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.
12 And the fourth angel blew, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of stars, so that the third part of them was darkened. And the day was smitten, so that the third part of it did not shine, and likewise the night.
13 And I looked, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth, because of the blasts to come of the trumpet of the three angels who were yet to blow.
Revelation 8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 8[a]
The Seven Trumpets. 1 When he broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven[b] for about half an hour.(A) 2 And I saw that the seven angels who stood before God were given seven trumpets.(B)
The Gold Censer. 3 Another angel came and stood at the altar,[c] holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne.(C) 4 The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with burning coals from the altar, and hurled it down to the earth. There were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.(D)
The First Four Trumpets. 6 The seven angels who were holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.(E)
7 When the first one blew his trumpet, there came hail and fire mixed with blood, which was hurled down to the earth. A third of the land was burned up, along with a third of the trees and all green grass.[d]
8 [e]When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a large burning mountain was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood,(F) 9 a third of the creatures living in the sea[f] died, and a third of the ships were wrecked.
10 When the third angel blew his trumpet, a large star burning like a torch fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.(G) 11 The star was called “Wormwood,”[g] and a third of all the water turned to wormwood. Many people died from this water, because it was made bitter.(H)
12 When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them became dark. The day lost its light for a third of the time, as did the night.(I)
13 Then I looked again and heard an eagle flying high overhead cry out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe[h] to the inhabitants of the earth from the rest of the trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to blow!”
Footnotes
- 8:1–13 The breaking of the seventh seal produces at first silence and then seven symbolic disasters, each announced by a trumpet blast, of which the first four form a unit as did the first four seals. A minor liturgy (Rev 8:3–5) is enclosed by a vision of seven angels (Rev 8:2, 6). Then follow the first four trumpet blasts, each heralding catastrophes modeled on the plagues of Egypt affecting the traditional prophetic third (cf. Ez 5:12) of the earth, sea, fresh water, and stars (Rev 8:7–12). Finally, there is a vision of an eagle warning of the last three trumpet blasts (Rev 8:13).
- 8:1 Silence in heaven: as in Zep 1:7, a prelude to the eschatological woes that are to follow; cf. Introduction.
- 8:3 Altar: there seems to be only one altar in the heavenly temple, corresponding to the altar of holocausts in Rev 6:9, and here to the altar of incense in Jerusalem; cf. also Rev 9:13; 11:1; 14:18; 16:7.
- 8:7 This woe resembles the seventh plague of Egypt (Ex 9:23–24); cf. Jl 3:3.
- 8:8–11 The background of these two woes is the first plague of Egypt (Ex 7:20–21).
- 8:9 Creatures living in the sea: literally, “creatures in the sea that had souls.”
- 8:11 Wormwood: an extremely bitter and malignant plant symbolizing the punishment God inflicts on the ungodly; cf. Jer 9:12–14; 23:15.
- 8:13 Woe! Woe! Woe: each of the three woes pronounced by the angel represents a separate disaster; cf. Rev 9:12; 11:14. The final woe, released by the seventh trumpet blast, includes the plagues of Rev 16.
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.