Revelation 8-12 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Seventh Seal—the Trumpets

8 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ² And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

³ Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might ^[a]add it to the prayers of all the ^[b]saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. ⁴ And the smoke of the incense, ^[c]with the prayers of the ^[d]saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel ^[e]took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

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

⁷ The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸ The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, ⁹ and a third of the creatures which were in the sea ^[f]and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. ¹¹ The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.

¹² The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.

¹³ Then I looked, and I heard ^[g]an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

The Fifth Trumpet—the Bottomless Pit

9 Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the ^[h]bottomless pit was given to him. ² He opened the ^[i]bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. ³ Then out of the smoke came locusts ^[j]upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴ They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ And ^[k]they were not permitted to kill ^[l]anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it ^[m]stings a man. ⁶ And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.

⁷ The ^[n]appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. ⁸ They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. ⁹ They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. ¹⁰ They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. ¹¹ They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is ^[o]Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name ^[p]Apollyon.

¹² The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

The Sixth Trumpet—Army from the East

¹³ Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard ^[q]a voice from the ^[r]four horns of the golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴ one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of ^[s]mankind. ¹⁶ The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. ¹⁷ And ^[t]this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of ^[u]brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and ^[v]brimstone. ¹⁸ A third of ^[w]mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the ^[x]brimstone which proceeded 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 and have heads, and with them they do harm.

²⁰ The rest of ^[y]mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; ²¹ and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.

The Angel and the Little Book

10 I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; ² and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; ³ and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder ^[z]uttered their voices. ⁴ When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” ⁵ Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, ⁶ and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer, ⁷ but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He ^[aa]preached to His servants the prophets.

⁸ Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the ^[ab]book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he *said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹ And they *said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then there was given me a ^[ac]measuring rod like a staff; ^[ad]and someone said, “Get up and measure the ^[ae]temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. ^2 [af]Leave out the court which is outside the ^[ag]temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. ³ And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” ⁴ These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. ⁶ These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

⁷ When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. ⁸ And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which ^[ah]mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead ^[ai]bodies for three and a half days, and ^[aj]will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. ¹⁰ And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

¹¹ But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. ¹² And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; ^[ak]seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet—Christ’s Reign Foreseen

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His ^[al]Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying,

“We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. ¹⁸ And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to ^[am]reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the ^[an]saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹ And the ^[ao]temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His ^[ap]temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great ^[aq]hailstorm.

The Woman, Israel

12 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; ² and she was with child; and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.

The Red Dragon, Satan

³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. ⁴ And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

The Male Child, Christ

⁵ And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to ^[ar]rule all the ^[as]nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. ⁶ Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there ^[at]she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

The Angel, Michael

⁷ And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, ⁸ and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole ^[au]world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,

“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. ¹¹ And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even ^[av]when faced with death. ¹² For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who ^[aw]dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the ^[ax]presence of the serpent. ¹⁵ And the serpent ^[ay]poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. ^16 [az]But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon ^[ba]poured out of his mouth. ¹⁷ So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her ^[bb]children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.