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Revelation 6:12-17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Revelation 6:12-17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
12 [a]Then I watched while he broke open the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; the sun turned as black as dark sackcloth[b] and the whole moon became like blood.(A) 13 The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs[c] shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind. 14 Then the sky was divided[d] like a torn scroll curling up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.(B) 15 The kings of the earth, the nobles,[e] the military officers, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in caves and among mountain crags. 16 They cried out to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,(C) 17 because the great day of their[f] wrath has come and who can withstand it?”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 6:12–14 Symbolic rather than literal description of the cosmic upheavals attending the day of the Lord when the martyrs’ prayer for vindication (Rev 6:10) would be answered; cf. Am 8:8–9; Is 34:4; 50:3; Jl 2:10; 3:3–4; Mt 24:4–36; Mk 13:5–37; Lk 21:8–36.
- 6:12 Dark sackcloth: for mourning, sackcloth was made from the skin of a black goat.
- 6:13 Unripe figs: literally, “summer (or winter) fruit.”
- 6:14 Was divided: literally, “was split,” like a broken papyrus roll torn in two, each half then curling up to form a roll on either side.
- 6:15 Nobles: literally, “courtiers,” “grandees.” Military officers: literally, “commanders of 1,000 men,” used in Josephus and other Greek authors as the equivalent of the Roman tribunus militum. The listing of various ranks of society represents the universality of terror at the impending doom.
- 6:17 Their: this reading is attested in the best manuscripts, but the vast majority read “his” in reference to the wrath of the Lamb in the preceding verse.
Revelation 6:12-17
New International Version
Revelation 6:12-17
New International Version
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake.(A) The sun turned black(B) like sackcloth(C) made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth,(D) as figs drop from a fig tree(E) when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up,(F) and every mountain and island was removed from its place.(G)
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free,(H) hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.(I) 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us(J) and hide us[a] from the face of him who sits on the throne(K) and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day(L) of their[b] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”(M)
Footnotes
- Revelation 6:16 See Hosea 10:8.
- Revelation 6:17 Some manuscripts his
Revelation 6:12-17
King James Version
Revelation 6:12-17
King James Version
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
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New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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