Revelation 16
EasyEnglish Bible
The seven bowls with the seven last troubles
16 Then I heard a loud voice speak from God's house in heaven. It said to the seven angels, ‘Take your seven bowls that are full of God's anger. Go and pour them out on the earth.’
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land. As a result, very bad and painful sores appeared on people's skin. Everyone who had the wild animal's mark on them and who worshipped the animal's image had those sores.
3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. As a result, the sea became like the blood of a dead person. Everything that was living in the sea then died.
4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and on the springs of water. As a result, all the water became blood.
5 Then I heard the voice of the angel who had authority over the waters. He said to God,
‘Holy One, you are alive now and you always have been alive.
You are right in everything that you decide.
Now you have judged these people.
6 They have killed your people and your prophets.
They have caused your servants to bleed and to die.
So now you have given these bad people blood to drink.
That is what ought to happen to them. It is right.’
7 Then I heard a voice from the altar in heaven. It said,
‘Yes, Lord God, you have all authority.
When you judge people, it is the punishment that they deserve.’
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. God gave authority to the sun so that it burned people with fire. 9 The strong heat burned people and it hurt them very much. As a result, they said bad things against God's name, because he had the power to cause these terrible troubles. But they refused to change how they lived. They refused to agree that God is great.
10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the wild animal. As a result, the whole kingdom that the wild animal ruled became dark. People were biting their tongues because of their great pain. 11 They cursed the God of heaven because of their pain and because of the sores on their skin. But they did not stop doing bad things.
12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates river. As a result, the river became dry. This prepared a way for kings from the east to march across it. 13 Then I saw three bad spirits that looked like frogs. One bad spirit came out of the dragon's mouth.[a] Another one came out of the first wild animal's mouth. The third one came out of the false prophet's mouth.[b] 14 Those bad spirits are the spirits of demons. They had the power to do miracles. They went to all the rulers in the whole world, to bring them together to fight in a big war. That war will happen on the great day of God, who has all power and authority.
15 The Lord says: ‘Listen! I will come secretly, like someone who robs people. If you continue to watch carefully, you will be happy. Keep your clothes with you all the time. Then, when I come, you will not be ashamed because you have no clothes.’[c]
16 Then the bad spirits brought the rulers together to fight in the big war. They came to the place that is called Armageddon in the Hebrew language.
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. A voice spoke loudly from the throne in God's house. The voice said, ‘Now it has happened!’ 18 There was a great storm, with bright lightning and loud noises of thunder. The ground shook with a strong earthquake. The earthquake was stronger than anything that had happened since people first lived on the earth. 19 As a result, the great city of Babylon broke into three parts. When the ground shook, it also destroyed the big cities of other nations in the world. God did not forget the evil things that the people of the great city of Babylon had done. So they had to drink wine from the cup of God's great anger.
20 When the ground shook, every island in the sea disappeared. There were no more mountains anywhere. 21 Strong rain with stones of ice fell from the sky. The stones hit people and caused them great pain. The weight of each stone was about 50 kilograms. The people cursed God because the strong rain and the stones of ice caused them to have such terrible pain.[d]
Footnotes
- 16:13 We read about the dragon in Revelation 12:3,4.
- 16:13 The false prophet is probably the same as the second wild animal. See Revelation 13:16-18.
- 16:15 Jesus is telling his people that they must always be ready for him. He will return to this earth. He may come at any time, even at night. See 1 Thessalonians 5:2. Christians must not be like people who are asleep. People like that will not be ready to get up when he comes. Chapter 16 describes the last set of troubles before the end of the world. It is very important that Christians go on believing Jesus. They must be ready for him during this time.
- 16:21 The troubles that the seven bowls bring are the last troubles. They seem to be worse than the troubles that the seven seals or the seven trumpets bring. But the last bowl brings events like those events that come with the last trumpet. See Revelation 11:15-19. There is a great storm and the ground moves strongly. These events also happen after the last seal becomes open. See Revelation 8:5. So perhaps these verses are describing the same events in three different ways. Some people think that the events of the first six seals happen before the first six trumpets. After that, the events of the first six bowls happen. Then the last seal, the last trumpet and the last bowl may all show the same events.
Revelation 16
Names of God Bible
The Seven Angels Pour Out Their Bowls
16 I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Pour the seven bowls of God’s anger over the earth.”
2 The first angel poured his bowl over the earth. Horrible, painful sores appeared on the people who had the brand of the beast and worshiped its statue.
3 The second angel poured his bowl over the sea. The sea turned into blood like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured his bowl over the rivers and the springs. They turned into blood. 5 Then I heard the angel of the water say,
“You are fair.
You are the one who is and the one who was, the holy one,
because you have judged these things.
6 You have given them blood to drink
because they have poured out
the blood of God’s people and prophets.
This is what they deserve.”
7 Then I heard the altar answer,
“Yes, Lord God Almighty, your judgments are true and fair.”
8 The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun. The sun was allowed to burn people with fire. 9 They were severely burned. They cursed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues. They would not change the way they think and act and give him glory.
10 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast. Its kingdom turned dark. People gnawed on their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pains and their sores. However, they would not stop what they were doing.
12 The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great Euphrates River. The water in the river dried up to make a road for the kings from the east. 13 Then I saw three evil spirits like frogs come out of the mouths of the serpent, the beast, and the false prophet. 14 They are spirits of demons that do miracles. These spirits go to the kings of the whole world and gather them for the war on the frightening day of God Almighty.
15 “See, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains alert and doesn’t lose his clothes. He will not have to go naked and let others see his shame.”
16 The spirits gathered the kings at the place which is called Armageddon in Hebrew.
17 The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air. A loud voice came from the throne in the temple, and said, “It has happened!” 18 There was lightning, noise, thunder, and a powerful earthquake. There has never been such a powerful earthquake since humans have been on earth. 19 The important city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered to give Babylon the Great the cup of wine from his fierce anger. 20 Every island vanished, and the mountains could no longer be seen. 21 Large, heavy hailstones fell from the sky on people. The people cursed God because the plague of hail was such a terrible plague.
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