Revelation 5-9

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

5 And I saw lying on the ^[a]open hand of Him Who was seated on the throne a scroll (book) written within and on the back, closed and sealed with seven seals;^(A)

² And I saw a strong angel announcing in a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll? And [who is entitled and deserves and is morally fit] to break its seals?

³ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth [in the realm of the dead, Hades] was able to open the scroll or to take a [single] look at its contents.

⁴ And I wept audibly and bitterly because no one was found fit to open the scroll or to inspect it.

⁵ Then one of the elders [^[b]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] said to me, Stop weeping! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root (Source) of David, has won (has overcome and conquered)! He can open the scroll and break its seven seals!^(B)

⁶ And there between the throne and the four living creatures (beings) and among the elders [^[c]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God [^[d]the sevenfold Holy Spirit] Who have been sent [on duty far and wide] into all the earth.^(C)

⁷ He then went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him Who sat on the throne.

⁸ And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders [^[e]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] prostrated themselves before the Lamb. Each was holding a harp (lute or guitar), and they had golden bowls full of incense (fragrant spices and gums for burning), which are the prayers of God’s people (the saints).

⁹ And [now] they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals that are on it, for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased men unto God from every tribe and language and people and nation.^(D)

¹⁰ And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign [as kings] over the earth!^(E)

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels on every side of the throne and of the living creatures and the elders [^[f]of the heavenly Sanhedrin], and they numbered ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands,^(F)

¹² Saying in a loud voice, Deserving is the Lamb, Who was sacrificed, to receive all the power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and majesty (glory, splendor) and blessing!

¹³ And I heard every created thing in heaven and on earth and under the earth [in Hades, the place of departed spirits] and on the sea and all that is in it, crying out together, To Him Who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb be ascribed the blessing and the honor and the majesty (glory, splendor) and the power (might and dominion) forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities)!^(G)

¹⁴ Then the four living creatures (beings) said, Amen (so be it)! And the elders [^[g]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] prostrated themselves and worshiped Him Who lives forever and ever.

6 Then I saw as the Lamb broke open one of the seven seals, and as if in a voice of thunder I heard one of the four living creatures call out, Come!

² And I looked, and saw there a white horse whose rider carried a bow. And a crown was given him, and he rode forth conquering and to conquer.^(H)

³ And when He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, Come!

⁴ And another horse came out, flaming red. And its rider was empowered to take the peace from the earth, so that men slaughtered one another; and he was given a huge sword.

⁵ When He broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, Come and look! And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and in his hand the rider had a pair of scales (a balance).

⁶ And I heard what seemed to be a voice from the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius [a whole day’s wages], and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm the oil and the wine!^(I)

⁷ When the Lamb broke open the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature call out, Come!

⁸ So I looked, and behold, an ashy pale horse [^[h]black and blue as if made so by bruising], and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades (the realm of the dead) followed him closely. And they were given authority and power over a fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword and with famine and with plague (pestilence, disease) and with wild beasts of the earth.^(J)

⁹ When the Lamb broke open the fifth seal, I saw at the foot of the altar the souls of those whose lives had been sacrificed for [adhering to] the Word of God and for the testimony they had borne.

¹⁰ They cried in a loud voice, O [Sovereign] Lord, holy and true, how long now before You will sit in judgment and avenge our blood upon those who dwell on the earth?^(K)

¹¹ Then they were each given a ^[i]long and flowing and festive white robe and told to rest and wait patiently a little while longer, until the number should be complete of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

¹² When He [the Lamb] broke open the sixth seal, I looked, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun grew black as sackcloth of hair, [the full disc of] the moon became like blood.^(L)

¹³ And the stars of the sky dropped to the earth like a fig tree shedding its unripe fruit out of season when shaken by a strong wind.^(M)

¹⁴ And the ^[j]sky rolled up like a scroll and vanished, and every mountain and island was dislodged from its place.

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth and their noblemen and their magnates and their military chiefs and the wealthy and the strong and [everyone, whether] slave or free hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,^(N)

¹⁶ And they called to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on (before) us and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne and from the ^[k]deep-seated indignation and wrath of the Lamb.^(O)

¹⁷ For the great day of His wrath (vengeance, retribution, indignation) has come, and who is able to stand before it?^(P)

7 After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, ^[l]firmly holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind should blow on the earth or sea or upon any tree.^(Q)

² Then I saw a second angel coming up from the east (the rising of the sun) and carrying the seal of the living God. And with a loud voice he called out to the four angels who had been given authority and power to injure earth and sea,

³ Saying, Harm neither the earth nor the sea nor the trees, until we have sealed the bond servants of our God upon their foreheads.^(R)

⁴ And [then] I heard how many were sealed (marked) out of every tribe of the sons of Israel: there were 144,000.

⁵ Twelve thousand were sealed (marked) out of the tribe of Judah, 12,000 of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 of the tribe of Gad,

⁶ Twelve thousand of the tribe of Asher, 12,000 of the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 of the tribe of Manasseh,

⁷ Twelve thousand of the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 of the tribe of Levi, 12,000 of the tribe of Issachar,

⁸ Twelve thousand of the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 of the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 of the tribe of Benjamin.

⁹ After this I looked and a vast host appeared which no one could count, [gathered out] of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. These stood before the throne and before the Lamb; they were attired in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰ In loud voice they cried, saying, [Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]!

¹¹ And all the angels were standing round the throne and round the elders [^[m]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] and the four living creatures, and they fell prostrate before the throne and worshiped God.

¹² Amen! (So be it!) they cried. Blessing and glory and majesty and splendor and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might [be ascribed] to our God to the ages and ages (forever and ever, throughout the eternities of the eternities)! Amen! (So be it!)

¹³ Then, addressing me, one of the elders [^[n]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] said, Who are these [people] clothed in the long white robes? And from where have they come?

¹⁴ I replied, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they who have come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.^(S)

¹⁵ For this reason they are [now] before the [very] throne of God and serve Him day and night in His sanctuary (temple); and He Who is sitting upon the throne will protect and spread His tabernacle over and shelter them with His presence.

¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun smite them, nor any ^[o]scorching heat.^(T)

¹⁷ For the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to the springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.^(U)

8 When He [the Lamb] broke open the seventh seal, there was silence for about half an hour in heaven.

² Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

³ And another angel came and stood over the altar. He had a golden censer, and he was given very much incense (fragrant spices and gums which exhale perfume when burned), that he might mingle it with the prayers of all the people of God (the saints) upon the golden altar before the throne.^(V)

⁴ And the smoke of the incense (the perfume) arose in the presence of God, with the prayers of the people of God (the saints), from the hand of the angel.

⁵ So the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and cast it upon the earth. Then there followed peals of thunder and loud rumblings and blasts and noises, and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.^(W)

⁶ Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

⁷ The first angel blew [his] trumpet, and there was a storm of hail and fire mingled with blood cast upon the earth. And a third part of the earth was burned up and a third of the trees was burned up and all the green grass was burned up.^(X)

⁸ The second angel blew [his] trumpet, and something resembling a great mountain, blazing with fire, was hurled into the sea.^(Y)

⁹ And a third of the sea was turned to blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea perished, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel blew [his] trumpet, and a huge star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it dropped on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water—

¹¹ And the name of the star is Wormwood. A third part of the waters was changed into wormwood, and many people died from using the water, because it had become bitter.

¹² Then the fourth angel blew [his] trumpet, and a third of the sun was smitten, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that [the light of] a third of them was darkened, and a third of the daylight [itself] was withdrawn, and likewise a third [of the light] of the night was kept from shining.

¹³ Then I [looked and I] saw a solitary eagle flying in midheaven, and as it flew I heard it crying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the rest of the trumpet blasts which the three angels are about to sound!

9 Then the fifth angel blew [his] trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth; and to the angel was given the key ^[p]of the shaft of the Abyss (the bottomless pit).

² He opened the ^[q]long shaft of the Abyss (the bottomless pit), and smoke like the smoke of a huge furnace puffed out of the ^[r]long shaft, so that the sun and the atmosphere were darkened by the smoke from the long shaft.^(Z)

³ Then out of the smoke locusts came forth on the earth, and such power was granted them as the power the earth’s scorpions have.^(AA)

⁴ They were told not to injure the herbage of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only [to attack] such human beings as do not have the seal (mark) of God on their foreheads.^(AB)

⁵ They were not permitted to kill them, but to torment (distress, vex) them for five months; and the pain caused them was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings a person.

⁶ And in those days people will seek death and will not find it; and they will yearn to die, but death evades and flees from them.^(AC)

⁷ The locusts resembled horses equipped for battle. On their heads was something like golden crowns. Their faces resembled the faces of people.^(AD)

⁸ They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.^(AE)

⁹ Their breastplates (scales) resembled breastplates made of iron, and the [whirring] noise made by their wings was like the roar of a vast number of horse-drawn chariots going at full speed into battle.^(AF)

¹⁰ They have tails like scorpions, and they have stings, and in their tails lies their ability to hurt men for [the] five months.

¹¹ Over them as king they have the angel of the Abyss (of the bottomless pit). In Hebrew his name is Abaddon [destruction], but in Greek he is called Apollyon [destroyer].

¹² The first woe (calamity) has passed; behold, two others are yet to follow.

¹³ Then the sixth angel blew [his] trumpet, and from the four horns of the golden altar which stands before God I heard a solitary voice,

¹⁴ Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Liberate the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.

¹⁵ So the four angels who had been in readiness for that hour in the appointed day, month, and year were liberated to destroy a third of mankind.

¹⁶ The number of their troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand (200,000,000); I heard what their number was.

¹⁷ And in [my] vision the horses and their riders appeared to me like this: the riders wore breastplates the color of fiery red and sapphire blue and sulphur (brimstone) yellow. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and from their mouths there poured fire and smoke and sulphur (brimstone).

¹⁸ A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues—by the fire and the smoke and the sulphur (brimstone) that poured from the mouths of the horses.

¹⁹ For the power of the horses to do harm is in their mouths and also in their tails. Their tails are like serpents, for they have heads, and it is by means of them that they wound people.

²⁰ And the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues even then did not repent of [the worship of] the works of their [own] hands, so as to cease paying homage to the demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor move.^(AG)

²¹ And they did not repent of their murders or their practice of magic (sorceries) or their sexual vice or their thefts.