Revelation 9
New American Standard Bible
The Fifth Trumpet: Shaft of the Abyss
9 Then the (A)fifth angel sounded, and I saw a (B)star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the (C)key to the (D)shaft of the abyss was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft of the abyss, and (E)smoke ascended out of the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace; and (F)the sun and the air were darkened from the smoke of the shaft. 3 Then out of the smoke came (G)locusts [a]upon the earth, and power was given them, as the (H)scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were told not to (I)hurt the (J)grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the people who do not have the (K)seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And [b]they were not permitted to kill [c]anyone, but to torment for (L)five months; and their torment was like the torment of a (M)scorpion when it [d]stings a person. 6 And in those days (N)people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death [e]will flee from them!
7 The [f](O)appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like human faces. 8 They had hair like the hair of women, and their (P)teeth were like the teeth of lions. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the (Q)sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. 10 They have tails like (R)scorpions, and stings; and in their (S)tails is their power to hurt people for (T)five months. 11 They have as king over them, the angel of the (U)abyss; his name in (V)Hebrew is [g](W)Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name [h]Apollyon.
12 (X)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, and I heard [i]a voice from the [j]four (Y)horns of the (Z)golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the (AA)four angels who are bound at the (AB)great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were (AC)released, so that they would kill a (AD)third of mankind. 16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was (AE)two hundred million; (AF)I heard the number of them. 17 And this is how I saw (AG)in my vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire, of hyacinth, and of [k](AH)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and (AI)out of their mouths *came fire and smoke and [l](AJ)brimstone. 18 A (AK)third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the (AL)fire, the smoke, and the [m]brimstone which came 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 and have heads, and with them they do harm.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (AM)did not repent of (AN)the works of their hands so as not to (AO)worship demons and (AP)the idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; 21 and they (AQ)did not repent of their murders, nor of their (AR)witchcraft, nor of their (AS)sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.
Footnotes
- Revelation 9:3 Lit into
- Revelation 9:5 Lit it was given to them
- Revelation 9:5 Lit them
- Revelation 9:5 Lit strikes
- Revelation 9:6 Lit flees (intensive expression)
- Revelation 9:7 Lit likenesses
- Revelation 9:11 I.e., destruction
- Revelation 9:11 I.e., destroyer
- Revelation 9:13 Lit one voice
- Revelation 9:13 Two early mss do not contain four
- Revelation 9:17 I.e., burning sulfur
- Revelation 9:17 I.e., burning sulfur
- Revelation 9:18 I.e., burning sulfur
Revelation 9
International Standard Version
The Vision of the Fifth Trumpet
9 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] 2 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. 3 Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth, and they were given power like that of earthly scorpions. 4 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. 5 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. 6 In those days people will seek death, but never find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.
7 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. 8 They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like lions’ teeth. 9 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
- Revelation 9:1 I.e. Lucifer
- Revelation 9:1 Or from heaven
- Revelation 9:1 Lit. It
- Revelation 9:1 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Revelation 9:2 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Revelation 9:4 The Gk. lacks They could harm
- Revelation 9:5 The Gk. lacks were only allowed
- Revelation 9:11 I.e. the realm of punishment in the afterlife
- Revelation 9:11 I.e. the realm of destruction in the afterlife
- Revelation 9:11 I.e. Destroyer
- Revelation 9:13 Other mss. lack four
- Revelation 9:16 Lit. heard their number
- Revelation 9:20 Lit. from the works of their hands
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