Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close LSB

Revelation 9
Legacy Standard Bible

9 Then the (A)fifth angel sounded. Then I saw a (B)star from heaven which had fallen to the earth, and the (C)key of the (D)pit of the abyss was given to him. 2 And he opened the pit of the abyss and (E)smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace, and (F)the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke came (G)locusts [a]upon the earth, and power was given them, as the (H)scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And they were told not to (I)hurt the (J)grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the (K)seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And [b]they were not permitted to kill [c]anyone, but to torment for (L)five months, and their torment was like the torment of a (M)scorpion when it [d]stings a man. 6 And in those days (N)men will seek death and will never find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.

7 And the [e](O)appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 And they had hair like the hair of women, and their (P)teeth were like the teeth of lions. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the (Q)sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses running to battle. 10 And they have tails like (R)scorpions, and stings; and in their (S)tails is their power to hurt men for (T)five months. 11 They have as king over them, the angel of the (U)abyss. His name in (V)Hebrew is [f](W)Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name [g]Apollyon.

12 (X)One woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

13 Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard [h]a voice from the [i]four (Y)horns of the (Z)golden altar which is before God, 14 one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the (AA)four angels who have been bound at the (AB)great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels were (AC)released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they would kill a (AD)third of [j]mankind. 16 And the number of the armies of the horsemen was (AE)two hundred million; (AF)I heard the number of them. 17 And [k]this is how I saw (AG)in the vision the horses and those who sit on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of [l](AH)brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and (AI)out of their mouths come fire and smoke and [m](AJ)brimstone. 18 A (AK)third of [n]mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the (AL)fire and the smoke and the [o]brimstone which came 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, having heads, and with them they do harm.

20 And the rest of [p]mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, (AM)did not repent of (AN)the works of their hands, so as not to (AO)worship demons, and (AP)the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they (AQ)did not repent of their murders nor of their (AR)sorceries nor of their (AS)sexual immorality nor of their thefts.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 9:3 Lit into
  2. Revelation 9:5 Lit it was given to them that they might not kill them
  3. Revelation 9:5 Lit them
  4. Revelation 9:5 Lit strikes
  5. Revelation 9:7 Lit likenesses
  6. Revelation 9:11 Destruction
  7. Revelation 9:11 Destroyer
  8. Revelation 9:13 Lit one voice
  9. Revelation 9:13 Two early mss omit four
  10. Revelation 9:15 Gr anthropoi
  11. Revelation 9:17 Lit thus I saw
  12. Revelation 9:17 Burning sulfur
  13. Revelation 9:17 Burning sulfur
  14. Revelation 9:18 Gr anthropoi
  15. Revelation 9:18 Burning sulfur
  16. Revelation 9:20 Gr anthropoi
Close NABRE

Revelation 9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 9

The Fifth Trumpet.[a] 1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star[b] that had fallen from the sky to the earth. It was given the key for the passage to the abyss. 2 It opened the passage to the abyss,(A) and smoke came up out of the passage like smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the passage.(B) 3 Locusts came out of the smoke onto the land, and they were given the same power as scorpions[c] of the earth.(C) 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or any tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torment them for five months;[d] the torment they inflicted was like that of a scorpion when it stings a person. 6 During that time these people will seek death but will not find it, and they will long to die but death will escape them.(D)

7 [e]The appearance of the locusts was like that of horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,(E) 8 and they had hair like women’s hair. Their teeth were like lions’ teeth,(F) 9 and they had chests like iron breastplates. The sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots racing into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, with stingers; with their tails they had power to harm people for five months. 11 They had as their king the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon[f] and in Greek Apollyon.

12 The first woe has passed, but there are two more to come.

The Sixth Trumpet.[g] 13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the [four][h] horns of the gold altar before God,(G) 14 telling the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels[i] who are bound at the banks of the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels were released, who were prepared for this hour, day, month, and year to kill a third of the human race. 16 The number of cavalry troops was two hundred million; I heard their number. 17 Now in my vision this is how I saw the horses and their riders. They wore red, blue, and yellow breastplates,[j] and the horses’ heads were like heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.(H) 18 By these three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that came out of their mouths a third of the human race was killed. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like snakes, with heads that inflict harm.

20 The rest of the human race, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands,[k] to give up the worship of demons and idols made from gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.(I) 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic potions, their unchastity, or their robberies.

Footnotes

  1. 9:1–12 The fifth trumpet heralds a woe containing elements from the eighth and ninth plagues of Egypt (Ex 10:12–15, 21–23) but specifically reminiscent of the invasion of locusts in Jl 1:4–2:10.
  2. 9:1 A star: late Judaism represented fallen powers as stars (Is 14:12–15; Lk 10:18; Jude 13), but a comparison with Rev 1:20 and Rev 20:1 suggests that here it means an angel. The passage to the abyss: referring to Sheol, the netherworld, where Satan and the fallen angels are kept for a thousand years, to be cast afterwards into the pool of fire; cf. Rev 20:7–10. The abyss was conceived of as a vast subterranean cavern full of fire. Its only link with the earth was a kind of passage or mine shaft, which was kept locked.
  3. 9:3 Scorpions: their poisonous sting was proverbial; Ez 2:6; Lk 11:12.
  4. 9:5 For five months: more or less corresponding to the life-span of locusts.
  5. 9:7–10 Eight characteristics are listed to show the eschatological and diabolical nature of these locusts.
  6. 9:11 Abaddon: Hebrew (more precisely, Aramaic) for destruction or ruin. Apollyon: Greek for the “Destroyer.”
  7. 9:13–21 The sixth trumpet heralds a woe representing another diabolical attack symbolized by an invasion by the Parthians living east of the Euphrates; see note on Rev 6:2. At the appointed time (Rev 9:15), the frightful horses act as God’s agents of judgment. The imaginative details are not to be taken literally; see Introduction and the note on Rev 6:12–14.
  8. 9:13 [Four]: many Greek manuscripts and versions omit the word. The horns were situated at the four corners of the altar (Ex 27:2; 30:2–3); see note on Rev 8:3.
  9. 9:14–15 The four angels: they are symbolic of the destructive activity that will be extended throughout the universe.
  10. 9:17 Blue: literally, “hyacinth-colored.” Yellow: literally, “sulfurous.”
  11. 9:20 The works of their hands: i.e., the gods their hands had made.
Next
Revelation 8
Revelation 10
Next
dropdown
Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.