The Seven Seals

6 Then I saw the Lamb break one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, “Come!”^{[a](A) 2} I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer.^(B)

³ When he broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, “Come!”^{[b] 4} And out came^[c] another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another, and he was given a great sword.^(C)

⁵ When he broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, “Come!”^[d] I looked, and there was a black horse! Its rider held a pair of scales in his hand,^{(D) 6} and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s pay^[e] and three quarts of barley for a day’s pay,^[f] but do not damage the olive oil and the wine!”

⁷ When he broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature call out, “Come!”^{[g] 8} I looked, and there was a pale green horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed with him; they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and pestilence and by the wild animals of the earth.^(E)

⁹ When he broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given;^{(F) 10} they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?”^{(G) 11} They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servants and of their brothers and sisters who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.^(H)

¹² When he broke the sixth seal, I looked, and there was a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,^{(I) 13} and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree drops its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.^{(J) 14} The sky vanished like a scroll rolling itself up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.^{(K) 15} Then the kings of the earth and the magnates and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,^{(L) 16} calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,^{(M) 17} for the great day of their^[h] wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”^(N)

The Multitude from Every Nation

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.^{(A) 10} They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

¹¹ And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² singing,

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.^(D)