Revelation 9
English Standard Version
9 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] 2 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. 3 Then from the smoke came (F)locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.
7 (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, 8 their hair like women's hair, and (O)their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 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
- Revelation 9:1 Greek the abyss; also verses 2, 11
- Revelation 9:11 Abaddon means destruction; Apollyon means destroyer
- Revelation 9:17 Greek hyacinth
Revelation 9
The Message
9 1-2 The fifth Angel trumpeted. I saw a Star plummet from Heaven to earth. The Star was handed a key to the Well of the Abyss. He unlocked the Well of the Abyss—smoke poured out of the Well, billows and billows of smoke, sun and air in blackout from smoke pouring out of the Well.
3-6 Then out of the smoke crawled locusts with the venom of scorpions. They were given their orders: “Don’t hurt the grass, don’t hurt anything green, don’t hurt a single tree—only men and women, and then only those who lack the seal of God on their foreheads.” They were ordered to torture but not kill, torture them for five months, the pain like a scorpion sting. When this happens, people are going to prefer death to torture, look for ways to kill themselves. But they won’t find a way—death will have gone into hiding.
7-11 The locusts looked like horses ready for war. They had gold crowns, human faces, women’s hair, the teeth of lions, and iron breastplates. The sound of their wings was the sound of horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. Their tails were equipped with stings, like scorpion tails. With those tails they were ordered to torture the human race for five months. They had a king over them, the Angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, in Greek, Apollyon—“Destroyer.”
12 The first doom is past. Two dooms yet to come.
13-14 The sixth Angel trumpeted. I heard a voice speaking to the sixth Angel from the horns of the Golden Altar before God: “Let the Four Angels loose, the Angels confined at the great River Euphrates.”
15-19 The Four Angels were untied and let loose, Four Angels all prepared for the exact year, month, day, and even hour when they were to kill a third of the human race. The number of the army of horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard the count and saw both horses and riders in my vision: fiery breastplates on the riders, lion heads on the horses breathing out fire and smoke and brimstone. With these three weapons—fire and smoke and brimstone—they killed a third of the human race. The horses killed with their mouths and tails; their serpentlike tails also had heads that wreaked havoc.
20-21 The remaining men and women who weren’t killed by these weapons went on their merry way—didn’t change their way of life, didn’t quit worshiping demons, didn’t quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass, hunks of stone and wood that couldn’t see or hear or move. There wasn’t a sign of a change of heart. They plunged right on in their murderous, occult, promiscuous, and thieving ways.
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Revelation 9
Amplified Bible
The Fifth Trumpet—the Bottomless Pit
9 Then the fifth angel sounded [his trumpet], and I saw a star (angelic being) that had fallen from heaven to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit (abyss) was given to him (the star-angel).(A) 2 He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke like the smoke of a great furnace flowed out of the pit; and the sun and the atmosphere were darkened by the smoke from the pit.(B) 3 Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power [to hurt] was given to them, like the power which the earth’s scorpions have.(C) 4 They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but [to hurt] only the people who do not have the seal (mark of ownership, protection) of God on their foreheads.(D) 5 They were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment and cause them extreme pain for five months; and their torment was like the torment from a scorpion when it stings a man. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it; and they will long to die [to escape the pain], but [will discover that] death evades them.(E)
7 The locusts resembled horses prepared and equipped for battle; and on their heads appeared to be [something like] golden crowns, and their faces resembled human faces.(F) 8 They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions.(G) 9 They had breastplates (scales) like breastplates made of iron; and the [whirring] noise of their wings was like the [thunderous] noise of countless horse-drawn chariots charging [at full speed] into battle.(H) 10 They have tails like scorpions, and stingers; and in their tails is their power to hurt people for five months.(I) 11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss (the bottomless pit); in Hebrew his name is Abaddon (destruction), and in Greek he is called Apollyon (destroyer-king).
12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.
The Sixth Trumpet—Army from the East
13 Then the sixth angel sounded [his trumpet], and I heard a solitary voice from the four horns of the golden altar which stands before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the [appointed] hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand (two hundred million); I heard the number of them. 17 And this is how I saw the horses and their riders in my vision: the riders had breastplates [the color] of fire and of hyacinth (sapphire blue) and of brimstone (yellow); and the heads of the horses looked like the heads of lions; and from out of their mouths came fire and smoke and brimstone (burning sulfur). 18 A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that came from the mouths of the horses. 19 For the power of the horses [to do harm] is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and it is with them that they do harm.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, [a]did not repent even then of the works of their hands, so as to cease worshiping and paying homage to the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;(J) 21 and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries (drugs, intoxications) nor of their [sexual] immorality nor of their thefts.
Footnotes
- Revelation 9:20 The wickedness of idolatry is so deep and deceptive that idolaters refuse to repent in spite of the overwhelming evidence of God’s displeasure with them (Ps 115:8; 135:18).
Revelation 9
New Living Translation
The Fifth Trumpet Brings the First Terror
9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.[a] 2 When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.
3 Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. 4 They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. 6 In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. 8 They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. 9 They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people. 11 Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.
12 The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!
The Sixth Trumpet Brings the Second Terror
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. 14 And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.” 15 Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth. 16 I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.
17 And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. 18 One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. 19 Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.
20 But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
