Revelation 9
English Standard Version
9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and (A)I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given (B)the key to the shaft of (C)the bottomless pit.[a] 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft (D)rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and (E)the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came (F)locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told (G)not to harm (H)the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have (I)the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them (J)for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days (K)people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.
7 (L)In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: (M)on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were (N)like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and (O)their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was (P)like the noise of many chariots with (Q)horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people (R)for five months is in their tails. 11 They have (S)as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is (T)Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.[b]
12 (U)The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from (V)the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release (W)the four angels who are bound at (X)the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released (Y)to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of (Z)mounted troops was (AA)twice ten thousand times ten thousand; (AB)I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire[c] and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were (AC)like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (AD)did not repent of (AE)the works of their hands nor give up worshiping (AF)demons (AG)and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their (AH)sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Footnotes
- Revelation 9:1 Greek the abyss; also verses 2, 11
- Revelation 9:11 Abaddon means destruction; Apollyon means destroyer
- Revelation 9:17 Greek hyacinth
Revelation 9
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Fifth and Sixth Angels Blow Their Trumpets
9 When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky. The star was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 It opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and smoke came out of the shaft like the smoke from a large furnace. The smoke darkened the sun and the air. 3 Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth, and they were given power like the power of earthly scorpions. 4 They were told not to harm any grass, green plant, or tree on the earth. They could harm only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them. They were only allowed to torture them for five months. Their torture was like the pain of a scorpion’s sting. 6 At that time people will look for death and never find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They seemed to have crowns that looked like gold on their heads. Their faces were like human faces. 8 They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like iron. The noise from their wings was like the roar of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stingers like scorpions. They had the power to hurt people with their tails for five months. 11 The king who ruled them was the angel from the bottomless pit. In Hebrew he is called Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
12 The first catastrophe is over. After these things there are two more catastrophes yet to come.
13 When the sixth angel blew his trumpet, I heard a voice from the four horns of the gold altar in front of God. 14 The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are held at the great Euphrates River.” 15 The four angels who were ready for that hour, day, month, and year were released to kill one-third of humanity. 16 The soldiers on horses numbered 20,000 times 10,000. I heard how many there were.
17 In the vision that I had, the horses and their riders looked like this: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, pale blue, and yellow. The horses had heads like lions. Fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 These three plagues—the fire, smoke, and sulfur which came out of their mouths—killed one-third of humanity. 19 The power of these horses is in their mouths and their tails. (Their tails have heads like snakes which they use to hurt people.)
20 The people who survived these plagues still did not turn to me and change the way they were thinking and acting. If they had, they would have stopped worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. 21 They did not turn away from committing murder, practicing witchcraft, sinning sexually, or stealing.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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