The Seven Seals

6 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of ^(A)the seven seals, and I heard ^(B)one of the four living creatures say ^(C)with a voice like thunder, ^(D)“Come!” ² And I looked, and behold, ^(E)a white horse! And ^(F)its rider had a bow, and ^(G)a crown was given to him, and he came out ^(H)conquering, and to conquer.

³ When he opened the second seal, I heard ^(I)the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ And out came another horse, ^(J)bright red. Its rider was permitted ^(K)to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

⁵ When he opened the third seal, I heard the ^(L)third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, ^(M)a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, ^(N)“A quart^[a] of wheat for a denarius,^[b] and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and ^(O)do not harm the oil and wine!”

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of ^(P)the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ And I looked, and behold, ^(Q)a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill ^(R)with sword and with famine and with pestilence and ^(S)by wild beasts of the earth.

Signs of the End of the Age

³ As he sat on ^(A)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him ^(B)privately, saying, “Tell us, ^(C)when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your ^(D)coming and of ^(E)the end of the age?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, ^(F)“See that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For ^(G)many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am ^(H)the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you ^(I)are not alarmed, for this ^(J)must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For ^(K)nation will rise against nation, and ^(L)kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(M)famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are but the beginning of ^(N)the birth pains.

⁹ “Then ^(O)they will deliver you up ^(P)to tribulation and ^(Q)put you to death, and ^(R)you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰ And then many will fall away^[a] and ^(S)betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many ^(T)false prophets will arise ^(U)and lead many astray. ¹² And because lawlessness will be increased, ^(V)the love of many will grow cold. ^13 (W)But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The Coming of the Lord

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, ^(A)that you may not grieve as others do ^(B)who have no hope. ¹⁴ For ^(C)since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him ^(D)those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you ^(E)by a word from the Lord,^[a] that ^(F)we who are alive, who are left until ^(G)the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For ^(H)the Lord himself will descend ^(I)from heaven ^(J)with a cry of command, with the voice of ^(K)an archangel, and ^(L)with the sound of the trumpet of God. And ^(M)the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be ^(N)caught up together with them ^(O)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so ^(P)we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

³ knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come ^(A)in the last days with scoffing, ^(B)following their own sinful desires. ^4 (C)They will say, “Where is the promise of ^(D)his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

⁸ “I saw in the night, and behold, ^(A)a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were ^(B)red, sorrel, and white horses. ⁹ Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ ^(C)The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ ¹⁰ So ^(D)the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ^(E)‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to ^(F)patrol the earth.’ ¹¹ And they answered ^(G)the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ^(H)‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth ^(I)remains at rest.’

A Vision of Four Chariots

6 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of ^(A)bronze. ² The first chariot had ^(B)red horses, the second ^(C)black horses, ³ the third ^(D)white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.^{[a] 4} Then I answered and said to ^(E)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ And the angel answered and said to me, ^(F)“These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after ^(G)presenting themselves before ^(H)the Lord of all the earth. ⁶ The chariot with the black horses goes toward ^(I)the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward ^(J)the south country.” ⁷ When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and ^(K)patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, ^(L)patrol the earth.” ^(M)So they patrolled the earth.