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Chapter 8

The Seventh Seal.[a] When the Lamb broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw that seven trumpets were given to the seven angels who stand in the presence of God.

Another angel came forward with a gold censer and stood at the altar.[b] He was given a large quantity of incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the gold altar that stood before the throne.

The smoke of the incense together with the prayers of the saints rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and emptied it upon the earth. Immediately, there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The seven angels who held the seven trumpets now made ready to blow them.

The First Four Trumpets.[c] When the first angel blew his trumpet, there was a storm of hail and fire, mixed with blood, and it fell upon the earth.[d] A third of the earth was burned up, as well as a third of the trees and all the green grass.

[e]When the second angel blew his trumpet, something that looked like a huge mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 When the third angel blew his trumpet, a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch. It came down on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 This star was called “Wormwood,” and a third of the waters turned to wormwood.[f] Great numbers of people died from the waters that had become bitter.

12 When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars. As a result, a third of their light was darkened, and the day lost its illumination for a third of the time, and so did the night.[g]

13 The Cry of the Eagle.[h] In my vision, I heard an eagle cry out in a loud voice as it flew high overhead, “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth because of the other trumpet blasts that the three angels have not yet blown!”

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 8:1 We are now at the great Day of God’s Coming. Everything is unmoving in a solemn silence. It is the hour when the prayer of those persecuted—which is symbolized by the incense—is going to be heard (see Rev 6:9-11). Calamities arise to jostle the earth. At the sound of the trumpets, which are part of the scene for the Coming of God (see 1 Thes 4:16), seven tableaus will pass before our eyes in a dramatization without letup.
  2. Revelation 8:3 The altar is the altar of incense in the Jewish sanctuary; the gold censer is the thurible or fire-shovel used to carry the burning coals from the altar of holocausts to the altar of incense.
  3. Revelation 8:7 The earth, sea, streams, sources, and stars—everything is disfigured. The universe becomes chaos and lays itself waste. The author amplifies images taken from the Book of Exodus (chs. 7–10).
  4. Revelation 8:7 See the seventh plague of Egypt (Ex 9:23f) and Joel 3:3.
  5. Revelation 8:8 See the first plague of Egypt (Ex 7:20f).
  6. Revelation 8:11 Wormwood: a bitter-tasting plant that is a metaphor for calamity, sorrow, and death (see Prov 5:3f; Jer 9:15; Lam 3:19).
  7. Revelation 8:12 See the darkness that occurred for three days during the ninth plague of Egypt (Ex 10:21-23).
  8. Revelation 8:13 After the universe, the human race will itself be struck. The eagle announces the three calamities.

And when the SEH, (Lamb, SHEMOT 12:3; YESHAYAH 53:7 Moshiach) opened the chotam hashevi’i (seventh seal), there was silence in Shomayim about half an hour.

And I saw the shivat hamalachim (seven angels) who stand before Hashem, and there were given to them shivah shofarot.

And another malach came and stood at the Mizbe’ach (altar), having a golden mikteret (fire pan), and there was given to him much ketoret (incense, TEHILLIM 141:2) to offer with the tefillos (prayers) of all the Kadoshim at the golden Mizbe’ach before the Kes (Throne). [SHEMOT 30:1-6]

And the smoke of the ketoret ascended with the tefillos of the Kadoshim out of the hand of the malach (angel) before Hashem. [TEHILLIM 141:2]

And the malach has taken the mikteret and filled it from the eish (fire) of the Mizbe’ach (altar) and he threw it down to ha’aretz, and there were thunders and sounds and lightning and an earthquake. [VAYIKRA 16:12,13]

And the shivat hamalachim (seven angels) having the shiva shofarot prepared themselves that they might sound the shofarot.

And harishon sounded his shofar; and there came barad (hail) and eish (fire) having been mingled with dahm and it was thrown to ha’aretz, and a third of ha’aretz was burned up, and a third of the etzim (trees) was burned up and all green grass was burned up. [YECHEZKEL 38:22]

And the malach hasheyni (second angel) sounded his shofar; and as it were a great mountain with eish (fire) burning was thrown into the yam (sea), and a third of the yam became dahm [YIRMEYAH 51:25]

And a third of the living yetzurim hayam (creatures of the sea) died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 And the malach hashlishi (third angel) sounded his shofar; and there fell out of Shomayim a kokhav gadol (great star) blazing as a torch and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the wells of mayim (water). [YESHAYAH 14:12]

11 And the name of the kokhav (star) is said to be "Wormwood," and a third of the mayim became bitter wormwood, and many of the Bnei Adam died from the mayim because the mayim were made bitter. [YIRMEYAH 9:15, 23:15]

12 And the malach harevi’i (fourth angel) sounded his shofar; and a third of the shemesh (sun) was struck and a third of the levanah (moon) and a third of the kokhavim (stars), that a third of them might be darkened, and the yom (day) could not appear, and likewise the lailah (night). [SHEMOT 10:21-23; YECHEZKEL 32:7]

13 And I saw, and I heard one nesher (eagle) flying in midair, saying with a kol gadol (loud voice), Oy, oy, oy to the ones dwelling on ha’aretz (the earth), because of the remaining blasts of the shofar of the shloshet hamalachim (three angels) being about to sound.

Quand il ouvrit le septième sceau, il y eut dans le ciel un silence d'environ une demi-heure.

Et je vis les sept anges qui se tiennent devant Dieu, et sept trompettes leur furent données.

Et un autre ange vint, et il se tint sur l'autel, ayant un encensoir d'or; on lui donna beaucoup de parfums, afin qu'il les offrît, avec les prières de tous les saints, sur l'autel d'or qui est devant le trône.

La fumée des parfums monta, avec les prières des saints, de la main de l'ange devant Dieu.

Et l'ange prit l'encensoir, le remplit du feu de l'autel, et le jeta sur la terre. Et il y eut des voix, des tonnerres, des éclairs, et un tremblement de terre.

Et les sept anges qui avaient les sept trompettes se préparèrent à en sonner.

Le premier sonna de la trompette. Et il y eut de la grêle et du feu mêlés de sang, qui furent jetés sur la terre; et le tiers de la terre fut brûlé, et le tiers des arbres fut brûlé, et toute herbe verte fut brûlée.

Le second ange sonna de la trompette. Et quelque chose comme une grande montagne embrasée par le feu fut jeté dans la mer; et le tiers de la mer devint du sang,

et le tiers des créatures qui étaient dans la mer et qui avaient vie mourut, et le tiers des navires périt.

10 Le troisième ange sonna de la trompette. Et il tomba du ciel une grande étoile ardente comme un flambeau; et elle tomba sur le tiers des fleuves et sur les sources des eaux.

11 Le nom de cette étoile est Absinthe; et le tiers des eaux fut changé en absinthe, et beaucoup d'hommes moururent par les eaux, parce qu'elles étaient devenues amères.

12 Le quatrième ange sonna de la trompette. Et le tiers du soleil fut frappé, et le tiers de la lune, et le tiers des étoiles, afin que le tiers en fût obscurci, et que le jour perdît un tiers de sa clarté, et la nuit de même.

13 Je regardai, et j'entendis un aigle qui volait au milieu du ciel, disant d'une voix forte: Malheur, malheur, malheur aux habitants de la terre, à cause des autres sons de la trompette des trois anges qui vont sonner!