Revelation 8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 8[a]
The Seven Trumpets. 1 When he broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven[b] for about half an hour.(A) 2 And I saw that the seven angels who stood before God were given seven trumpets.(B)
The Gold Censer. 3 Another angel came and stood at the altar,[c] holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne.(C) 4 The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with burning coals from the altar, and hurled it down to the earth. There were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.(D)
The First Four Trumpets. 6 The seven angels who were holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.(E)
7 When the first one blew his trumpet, there came hail and fire mixed with blood, which was hurled down to the earth. A third of the land was burned up, along with a third of the trees and all green grass.[d]
8 [e]When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a large burning mountain was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood,(F) 9 a third of the creatures living in the sea[f] died, and a third of the ships were wrecked.
10 When the third angel blew his trumpet, a large star burning like a torch fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.(G) 11 The star was called “Wormwood,”[g] and a third of all the water turned to wormwood. Many people died from this water, because it was made bitter.(H)
12 When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them became dark. The day lost its light for a third of the time, as did the night.(I)
13 Then I looked again and heard an eagle flying high overhead cry out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe[h] to the inhabitants of the earth from the rest of the trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to blow!”
Footnotes
- 8:1–13 The breaking of the seventh seal produces at first silence and then seven symbolic disasters, each announced by a trumpet blast, of which the first four form a unit as did the first four seals. A minor liturgy (Rev 8:3–5) is enclosed by a vision of seven angels (Rev 8:2, 6). Then follow the first four trumpet blasts, each heralding catastrophes modeled on the plagues of Egypt affecting the traditional prophetic third (cf. Ez 5:12) of the earth, sea, fresh water, and stars (Rev 8:7–12). Finally, there is a vision of an eagle warning of the last three trumpet blasts (Rev 8:13).
- 8:1 Silence in heaven: as in Zep 1:7, a prelude to the eschatological woes that are to follow; cf. Introduction.
- 8:3 Altar: there seems to be only one altar in the heavenly temple, corresponding to the altar of holocausts in Rev 6:9, and here to the altar of incense in Jerusalem; cf. also Rev 9:13; 11:1; 14:18; 16:7.
- 8:7 This woe resembles the seventh plague of Egypt (Ex 9:23–24); cf. Jl 3:3.
- 8:8–11 The background of these two woes is the first plague of Egypt (Ex 7:20–21).
- 8:9 Creatures living in the sea: literally, “creatures in the sea that had souls.”
- 8:11 Wormwood: an extremely bitter and malignant plant symbolizing the punishment God inflicts on the ungodly; cf. Jer 9:12–14; 23:15.
- 8:13 Woe! Woe! Woe: each of the three woes pronounced by the angel represents a separate disaster; cf. Rev 9:12; 11:14. The final woe, released by the seventh trumpet blast, includes the plagues of Rev 16.
Revelation 8
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
The Seventh Seal
8 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence(A) in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God;(B) seven trumpets were given to them.(C) 3 Another angel, with a golden incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar in front of the throne.(D) 4 The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. 5 The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar,(E) and hurled it to the earth; there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.(F)
The Seven Trumpets
6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
The First Trumpet
7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth.(G) So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.(H)
The Second Trumpet
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea.(I) So a third of the sea became blood,(J) 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
The Third Trumpet
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven.(K) It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood,(L) and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.
The Fourth Trumpet
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light and also a third of the night.(M)
13 I looked and heard an eagle[a] flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, ‘Woe!(N) Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound! ’
Footnotes
- 8:13 Other mss read angel
Apocalipsis 8
La Palabra (Hispanoamérica)
El séptimo sello
8 Cuando, finalmente, el Cordero rompió el séptimo sello, se hizo en el cielo un silencio como de media hora.
III.— LAS SIETE TROMPETAS (8,2—14,20)
El ángel con el incensario de oro
2 Vi entonces cómo se entregaban siete trompetas a los siete ángeles que estaban en pie delante de Dios, 3 mientras otro ángel se colocaba junto al altar con un incensario de oro. Recibió perfumes en abundancia para ofrecerlos, junto con las oraciones de todos los santos, sobre el altar de oro que se levanta delante del trono de Dios. 4 Y el aroma de los perfumes, junto con las oraciones de los santos, subió de la mano del ángel hasta la presencia de Dios. 5 Entonces, el ángel tomó el incensario, lo llenó con las brasas del altar y lo arrojó sobre la tierra. Y retumbaron los truenos, los relámpagos cruzaron el cielo y se produjo un terremoto.
Las cuatro primeras trompetas
6 Los siete ángeles se prepararon para tocar las siete trompetas.
7 Tocó la trompeta el primero, y cayó sobre la tierra granizo y fuego mezclados con sangre. La tercera parte de la tierra quedó abrasada; la tercera parte de los árboles quedó abrasada; toda la hierba verde quedó abrasada.
8 El segundo ángel tocó la trompeta, y una especie de enorme montaña en llamas se precipitó en el mar. La tercera parte de las aguas del mar se convirtió en sangre; 9 la tercera parte de los seres vivientes del mar perdió la vida; la tercera parte de las naves quedó aniquilada.
10 El tercer ángel tocó la trompeta, y cayó del cielo un astro de grandes proporciones que, ardiendo como una antorcha, se abatió sobre la tercera parte de los ríos y de los manantiales. 11 “Ajenjo” se llamaba el astro, y en ajenjo se tornó la tercera parte de las aguas, y fue mucha la gente que murió a causa del amargor de las aguas.
12 El cuarto ángel tocó la trompeta, y la tercera parte del sol, de la luna y de las estrellas quedó como herida de muerte, la tercera parte de ellos se oscureció y las tinieblas invadieron la tercera parte del día y de la noche.
13 Miré entonces, y pude oír cómo un águila que volaba por lo más alto del cielo gritaba con voz poderosa:
— ¡Ay, ay, ay de los habitantes de la tierra! ¿Qué va a ser de ellos cuando suenen las trompetas de los tres ángeles restantes, que ya se disponen a tocarlas?
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