Revelation 9
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit; 2 he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given authority like the authority of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to damage the grass of the earth or any green growth or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.
7 In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails like scorpions, with stingers, and in their tails is their power to harm people for five months. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon,[a] and in Greek he is called Apollyon.[b]
12 The first woe has passed. There are still two woes to come.
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four[c] horns of the golden altar 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 were released, who had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, to kill a third of humankind. 16 The number of the troops of cavalry was two hundred million; I heard their number. 17 And this was how I saw the horses in my vision: the riders wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire[d] and of sulfur; the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of humankind 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; their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they inflict harm.
20 The rest of humankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands or give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their fornication or their thefts.
Footnotes
- Revelation 9:11 That is, Destruction
- Revelation 9:11 That is, Destroyer
- Revelation 9:13 Other ancient authorities lack four
- Revelation 9:17 Gk hyacinth
Revelation 9
New King James Version
Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit
9 Then the fifth angel sounded: (A)And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to (B)the [a]bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the (C)sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, (D)as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded (E)not to harm (F)the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have (G)the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And [b]they were not given authority to kill them, (H)but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days (I)men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 (J)The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. (K)On their heads were crowns of something like gold, (L)and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and (M)their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was (N)like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them (O)the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is [c]Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name [d]Apollyon.
12 (P)One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates
13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the (Q)golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound (R)at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a (S)third of mankind. 16 Now (T)the number of the army (U)of the horsemen was two hundred million; (V)I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; (W)and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For [e]their power is in their mouth and in their tails; (X)for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.
20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (Y)did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship (Z)demons, (AA)and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders (AB)or their [f]sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Footnotes
- Revelation 9:1 Lit. shaft of the abyss
- Revelation 9:5 The locusts
- Revelation 9:11 Lit. Destruction
- Revelation 9:11 Lit. Destroyer
- Revelation 9:19 NU, M the power of the horses
- Revelation 9:21 NU, M drugs
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
