The Lamb Takes the Scroll

5 Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals.^{(A) 2} I also saw a mighty angel^(B) proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or even to look in it. ⁴ I wept and wept because no one was found worthy to open^[a] the scroll or even to look in it. ⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah,^(C) the Root of David,^(D) has conquered^(E) so that he is able to open the scroll and^[b] its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb^(F) standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God^(G) sent into all the earth. ⁷ He went and took the scroll out of the right hand of the one seated on the throne.

The Lamb Is Worthy

⁸ When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp^(H) and golden bowls^(I) filled with incense,^(J) which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song:^(K)

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands.^{(N) 12} They said with a loud voice,

¹³ I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth,^(O) on the sea, and everything in them say,^(P)

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

The First Seal on the Scroll

6 Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven^[a] seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder,^(A) “Come!” ² I looked, and there was a white horse.^(B) Its rider held a bow;^(C) a crown^(D) was given to him, and he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer.^[b]

The Second Seal

³ When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ Then another horse went out, a fiery red one,^(E) and its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.^(F)

The Third Seal

⁵ When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and there was a black horse.^(G) Its rider held a set of scales in his hand.^{(H) 6} Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius,^[c] and three quarts of barley for a denarius,^(I) but do not harm the oil and the wine.”^(J)

The Fourth Seal

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ And I looked, and there was a pale green^[d] horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following after him.^(K) They were^[e] given authority^(L) over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.^(M)

The Fifth Seal

⁹ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given.^{[f](N) 10} They cried out with a loud voice, “Lord,^[g] the one who is holy and true,^(O) how long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?^(P)” ¹¹ So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.

The Sixth Seal

¹² Then I saw him open^[h] the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred;^(Q) the sun turned black like sackcloth^(R) made of hair; the entire moon^[i] became like blood;^{(S) 13} the stars^[j] of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; ¹⁴ the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up;^(T) and every mountain and island was moved from its place.^(U)

¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.^{(V) 16} And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us^(W) from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of their^[k] wrath has come! And who is able to stand?” ^(X)

The Sealed of Israel

7 After this I saw four angels^(A) standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth^(B) so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel rising up from the east,^(C) who had the seal of the living God.^(D) He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea, ³ “Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees^(E) until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.”^{(F) 4} And I heard the number of the sealed:

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language,^(H) which no one could number,^(I) standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.^{(J) 10} And they cried out in a loud voice:

¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying,

¹³ Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir,^[a] you know.”

Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.^(M) They washed their robes and made them white^(N) in the blood of the Lamb.

The Seventh Seal

8 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence^(A) in heaven for about half an hour. ² Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God;^(B) seven trumpets were given to them.^{(C) 3} Another angel, with a golden incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar in front of the throne.^{(D) 4} The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. ⁵ The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar,^(E) and hurled it to the earth; there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.^(F)

The Seven Trumpets

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

The First Trumpet

⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth.^(G) So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.^(H)

The Second Trumpet

⁸ The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea.^(I) So a third of the sea became blood,^{(J) 9} a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The Third Trumpet

¹⁰ The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven.^(K) It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Wormwood,^(L) and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.

The Fourth Trumpet

¹² The fourth angel blew 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 of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light and also a third of the night.^(M)

¹³ I looked and heard an eagle^[a] flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe!^(N) Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!”

The Fifth Trumpet

9 The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth.^(A) The key for the shaft to the abyss^(B) was given to him. ² He opened the shaft to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great^[a] furnace^(C) so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.^{(D) 3} Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth,^(E) and power^[b] was given to them^(F) like the power that scorpions have on the earth.^{(G) 4} They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree,^(H) but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.^{(I) 5} They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it stings someone. ⁶ In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.^(J)

⁷ The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle.^(K) Something like golden crowns was on their heads; their faces were like human faces; ⁸ they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth;^{(L) 9} they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots with horses rushing into battle; ¹⁰ and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months. ¹¹ They had as their king^[c] the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon,^[d](M) and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.^[e]

¹² The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this.^(N)

The Sixth Trumpet

¹³ The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four^[f] horns of the golden altar^(O) that is before God, I heard a voice ¹⁴ say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels^(P) bound at the great river Euphrates.”^{(Q) 15} So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year^(R) were released to kill a third^(S) of the human race. ¹⁶ The number of mounted troops was two hundred million;^[g] I heard their number. ¹⁷ This is how I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.^{(T) 18} A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues—by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that inflict injury.

²⁰ The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands^(U) to stop worshiping demons^(V) and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood,^(W) which cannot see, hear, or walk.^{(X) 21} And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.