The Seventh Seal

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence(A) in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God;(B) seven trumpets were given to them.(C) 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) The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. 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)

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The Lamb Breaks the Seventh Seal

When the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll,[a] there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.

Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.

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Footnotes

  1. 8:1 Or book.