Revelation 9
Living Bible
9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw one who had fallen to earth from heaven,[a] and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from some huge furnace, and the sun and air were darkened by the smoke.
3 Then locusts came from the smoke and descended onto the earth and were given power to sting like scorpions. 4 They were told not to hurt the grass or plants or trees, but to attack those people who did not have the mark of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not to kill them, but to torture them for five months with agony like the pain of scorpion stings. 6 In those days men will try to kill themselves but won’t be able to—death will not come. They will long to die—but death will flee away!
7 The locusts looked like horses armored for battle. They had what looked like golden crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like men’s. 8 Their hair was long like women’s, and their teeth were those of lions. 9 They wore breastplates that seemed to be of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had stinging tails like scorpions, and their power to hurt, given to them for five months, was in their tails. 11 Their king is the Prince of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon (and in English, the Destroyer).[b]
12 One terror now ends, but there are two more coming!
13 The sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the golden altar that stands before the throne of God, 14 saying to the sixth angel, “Release the four mighty demons[c] held bound at the great River Euphrates.” 15 They had been kept in readiness for that year and month and day and hour, and now they were turned loose to kill a third of all mankind. 16 They led an army of 200,000,000 warriors[d]—I heard an announcement of how many there were.
17-18 I saw their horses spread out before me in my vision; their riders wore fiery-red breastplates, though some were sky-blue and others yellow. The horses’ heads looked much like lions’, and smoke and fire and flaming sulphur billowed from their mouths, killing one-third of all mankind. 19 Their power of death was not only in their mouths, but in their tails as well, for their tails were similar to serpents’ heads that struck and bit with fatal wounds.
20 But the men left alive after these plagues still refused to worship God! They would not renounce their demon-worship, nor their idols made of gold and silver, brass, stone, and wood—which neither see nor hear nor walk! 21 Neither did they change their mind and attitude about all their murders and witchcraft, their immorality and theft.
Footnotes
- Revelation 9:1 one who had fallen to earth from heaven, literally, “a star fallen from heaven”; it is unclear whether this person is of satanic origin, as most commentators believe, or whether the reference is to Christ.
- Revelation 9:11 (and in English, the Destroyer), implied.
- Revelation 9:14 mighty demons, literally, “[fallen] angels.”
- Revelation 9:16 If this is a literal figure, it is no longer incredible, in view of a world population in excess of 6 billion in the near future. In China alone, in 1961, there were an “estimated 200 million armed and organized militiamen” (Associated Press Release, April 24, 1964). warriors, literally, “horsemen.”
Apocalipse 9
O Livro
9 Tocou então a sua trombeta o quinto anjo. E vi uma estrela que caíra do céu sobre a Terra e foi-lhe dada a chave do abismo insondável. 2 E quando o abriu, saiu dali fumo, como se fosse de uma imensa fornalha, a ponto de escurecer completamente o ar e o Sol.
3 E saíram gafanhotos, do meio daquele grande fumo, que desceram sobre a Terra. E deram-lhes poder para ferroar como os escorpiões. 4 Foi-lhes dito que poupassem a vegetação da Terra, a erva, os arbustos, as árvores, e que atacassem somente as pessoas que não tinham nas suas testas a marca de Deus. 5 Não deviam matá-las, mas sim torturá-las, durante cinco meses, com um sofrimento semelhante ao que provoca a picada do escorpião. 6 Durante esse tempo os homens hão de querer morrer, procurando matar-se e não serão capazes de o fazer: a morte não lhes virá, fugirá deles!
7 Esses gafanhotos pareciam cavalos aparelhados para a guerra. Traziam na cabeça algo como coroas de ouro e o seu focinho assemelhava-se ao rosto de homens. 8 Tinham na cabeça cabelos compridos, como as mulheres, e viam-se-lhes dentes como de leão. 9 Traziam o peito protegido por uma couraça de ferro e quando batiam as asas faziam barulho como um batalhão de carros de combate avançando para a guerra. 10 Tinham caudas armadas de um ferrão, tal como os escorpiões, e era com isso que podiam ferir as pessoas, durante cinco meses, como lhes tinha sido ordenado. 11 O seu comandante é o anjo do abismo profundo, cujo nome em hebraico é Abadom, e em grego é Apolion, que quer dizer “Destruidor”.
12 Assim terminou o primeiro “ai”, mas ainda hão de vir mais dois.
13 O sexto anjo tocou a sua trombeta e ouvi uma voz que falava a partir dos quatro chifres do altar de ouro diante de Deus. 14 Dirigia-se ao sexto anjo que tinha a trombeta, dizendo: “Solta os quatro anjos que estão amarrados junto do grande rio Eufrates.” 15 Eles tinham sido mantidos prontos para aquele momento exato, precisamente para aquela hora, dia, mês e ano. Foram então soltos para que matassem uma terça parte da humanidade. 16 E dirigiam um exército de 200 milhões de militares, segundo o número que ouvi anunciar.
17 Os cavalos desse exército eram montados por cavaleiros com couraças cor de fogo umas, e outras azuis e amarelas. As cabeças dos cavalos assemelhavam-se às de leões, e saía fogo, enxofre incandescente e fumo das suas bocas. 18 Assim mataram uma terça parte de toda a humanidade. 19 O poder que tinham para matar estava nas suas bocas e também nas caudas, porque estas eram semelhantes a cabeças de serpentes que podiam ferir mortalmente.
20 E os seres humanos que não foram mortos por essas pragas, mesmo assim não se arrependeram das suas obras más! Não quiseram abandonar o culto aos demónios, nem deixar os ídolos de ouro, prata, bronze, pedra e madeira, que não podem ver, nem ouvir, nem andar! 21 Não quiseram arrepender-se dos seus assassínios, das suas bruxarias, dos seus atos de imoralidade sexual e dos seus roubos.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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