And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and (A)I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given (B)the key to the shaft of (C)the bottomless pit.[a] He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft (D)rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and (E)the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came (F)locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told (G)not to harm (H)the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have (I)the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them (J)for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. And in those days (K)people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

(L)In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: (M)on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were (N)like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and (O)their teeth like lions' teeth; they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was (P)like the noise of many chariots with (Q)horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people (R)for five months is in their tails. 11 They have (S)as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is (T)Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.[b]

12 (U)The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from (V)the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release (W)the four angels who are bound at (X)the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released (Y)to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of (Z)mounted troops was (AA)twice ten thousand times ten thousand; (AB)I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire[c] and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were (AC)like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming 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 with heads, and by means of them they wound.

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (AD)did not repent of (AE)the works of their hands nor give up worshiping (AF)demons (AG)and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their (AH)sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 9:1 Greek the abyss; also verses 2, 11
  2. Revelation 9:11 Abaddon means destruction; Apollyon means destroyer
  3. Revelation 9:17 Greek hyacinth

The Vision of the Fifth Trumpet

When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen to earth[a] from the sky.[b] The star[c] was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.[d] It opened the shaft of the bottomless pit,[e] and smoke came out of the shaft like the smoke from a large furnace. The sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth, and they were given power like that of earthly scorpions. They were told not to harm the grass on the earth, any green plant, or any tree. They could harm[f] only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them, but were only allowed[g] to torture them for five months. Their torture was like the pain of a scorpion when it stings someone. In those days people will seek death, but never find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.

The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were victor’s crowns that looked like gold, and their faces were like human faces. They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like lions’ teeth. They had breastplates like iron, and the noise of their wings was like the roar of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stingers like scorpions, and they had the power to hurt people with their tails for five months. 11 They had the angel of the bottomless pit[h] ruling over them as king. In Hebrew he is called Abaddon,[i] and in Greek he is called Apollyon.[j]

12 The first catastrophe is over. After these things, there are still two more catastrophes to come.

The Vision of the Sixth Trumpet

13 When the sixth angel blew his trumpet, I heard a voice from the four[k] horns of the gold altar in front of God. 14 It told the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are held at the great Euphrates River.” 15 So the four angels who were ready for that hour, day, month, and year were released to kill one-third of humanity. 16 The number of cavalry troops was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were.[l]

17 This was how I saw the horses in my vision: The riders wore breastplates that had the color of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues—the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths—one-third of humanity was killed. 19 For the power of these horses is in their mouths and their tails. Their tails have heads like snakes, which they use to inflict pain.

20 The rest of the people who survived these plagues did not repent from their evil actions[m] or stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. 21 They did not repent from their murders, their witchcraft, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 9:1 I.e. Lucifer
  2. Revelation 9:1 Or from heaven
  3. Revelation 9:1 Lit. It
  4. Revelation 9:1 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
  5. Revelation 9:2 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
  6. Revelation 9:4 The Gk. lacks They could harm
  7. Revelation 9:5 The Gk. lacks were only allowed
  8. Revelation 9:11 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
  9. Revelation 9:11 I.e. the realm of destruction in the afterlife
  10. Revelation 9:11 I.e. Destroyer
  11. Revelation 9:13 Other mss. lack four
  12. Revelation 9:16 Lit. heard their number
  13. Revelation 9:20 Lit. from the works of their hands