Jehoram Reigns in Judah

21 ^(A)Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. ² He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of ^(B)Israel.^{[a] 3} Their father gave them great gifts of silver, gold, and valuable possessions, together with ^(C)fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. ⁴ When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of ^(D)Israel. ^5 (E)Jehoram was ^(F)thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. ^6 (G)And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for ^(H)the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. ⁷ Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give ^(I)a lamp to him and to his sons for ever.

⁸ In his days Edom revolted from the ^(J)rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. ⁹ Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and struck the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. ¹⁰ So Edom revolted from ^(K)the rule of Judah to this day. At that time Libnah also revolted from his rule, because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.

¹¹ Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(L)into whoredom and made Judah go astray. ¹² And a letter came to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, ^(M)‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or ^(N)in the ways of Asa king of Judah, ^13 (O)but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(P)into whoredom, ^(Q)as the house of Ahab led Israel into whoredom, and also you ^(R)have killed your brothers, of your father's house, who were better than yourself, ¹⁴ behold, the Lord will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, ¹⁵ and you yourself will have a severe sickness ^(S)with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels come out because of the disease, day by day.’”

^16 (T)And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the anger^[b] of the Philistines and of ^(U)the Arabians who are near the Ethiopians. ¹⁷ And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions they found that belonged to the king's house, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except ^(V)Jehoahaz, his youngest son.

¹⁸ And after all this the Lord struck him ^(W)in his bowels with an incurable disease. ¹⁹ In the course of time, at the end of two years, his bowels came out because of the disease, and he died in great agony. His people made no fire in his honour, ^(X)like the fires made for his fathers. ^20 (Y)He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed ^(Z)with no one's regret. ^(AA)They buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and ^(A)I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given ^(B)the key to the shaft of ^(C)the bottomless pit.^{[a] 2} He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft ^(D)rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and ^(E)the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. ³ Then from the smoke came ^(F)locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told ^(G)not to harm ^(H)the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have ^(I)the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were allowed to torment them ^(J)for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶ And in those days ^(K)people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

^7 (L)In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: ^(M)on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were ^(N)like human faces, ⁸ their hair like women's hair, and ^(O)their teeth like lions' teeth; ⁹ they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was ^(P)like the noise of many chariots with ^(Q)horses rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people ^(R)for five months is in their tails. ¹¹ They have ^(S)as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is ^(T)Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.^[b]

^12 (U)The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

¹³ Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from ^(V)the four horns of the golden altar before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release ^(W)the four angels who are bound at ^(X)the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released ^(Y)to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of ^(Z)mounted troops was ^(AA)twice ten thousand times ten thousand; ^(AB)I heard their number. ¹⁷ And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the colour of fire and of sapphire^[c] and of sulphur, and the heads of the horses were ^(AC)like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulphur came out of their mouths. ¹⁸ By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulphur coming out of their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

²⁰ The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^(AD)did not repent of ^(AE)the works of their hands nor give up worshipping ^(AF)demons ^(AG)and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, ²¹ nor did they repent of their murders or their ^(AH)sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

5 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ^(A)scroll! ² And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying ^(B)scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”^{[a] 3} Then he said to me, “This is ^(C)the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who ^(D)steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who ^(E)swears falsely^[b] shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. ⁴ I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of ^(F)him who swears falsely by my name. And ^(G)it shall remain in his house and ^(H)consume it, both timber and stones.”

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

^5 (I)Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, ^(J)“Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” ⁶ And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is ^(K)the basket^[c] that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity^[d] in all the land.” ⁷ And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! ⁸ And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down ^(L)the leaden weight on its opening.

⁹ Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! ^(M)The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. ¹⁰ Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” ¹¹ He said to me, “To the ^(N)land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”