Psalm 111^[a]

³⁹ “‘As for you, people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Go and serve your idols,^(A) every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name^(B) with your gifts and idols.^{(C) 40} For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel,^(D) declares the Sovereign Lord, there in the land all the people of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them. There I will require your offerings^(E) and your choice gifts,^[a] along with all your holy sacrifices.^{(F) 41} I will accept you as fragrant incense^(G) when I bring you out from the nations and gather^(H) you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy^(I) through you in the sight of the nations.^{(J) 42} Then you will know that I am the Lord,^(K) when I bring you into the land of Israel,^(L) the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors.^{(M) 43} There you will remember your conduct^(N) and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves^(O) for all the evil you have done.^{(P) 44} You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake^(Q) and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.^(R)’”

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8 When he opened the seventh seal,^(A) there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

² And I saw the seven angels^(B) who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.^(C)

³ Another angel,^(D) who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people,^(E) on the golden altar^(F) in front of the throne. ⁴ The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God^(G) from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar,^(H) and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,^(I) rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.^(J)

The Trumpets

⁶ Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets^(K) prepared to sound them.

⁷ The first angel^(L) sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire^(M) mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third^(N) of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.^(O)

⁸ The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain,^(P) all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third^(Q) of the sea turned into blood,^{(R) 9} a third^(S) of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky^(T) on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water^(U)— ¹¹ the name of the star is Wormwood.^[a] A third^(V) of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.^(W)

¹² The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third^(X) of them turned dark.^(Y) A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.^(Z)

¹³ As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair^(AA) call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe^(AB) to the inhabitants of the earth,^(AC) because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”