The Sixth Trumpet

13 The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four[a] horns of the golden altar(A) that is before God, I heard a voice 14 say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels(B) bound at the great river Euphrates.”(C) 15 So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year(D) were released to kill a third(E) of the human race. 16 The number of mounted troops was two hundred million;[b] I heard their number. 17 This is how I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.(F) 18 A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues—by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads that inflict injury.

20 The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands(G) to stop worshiping demons(H) and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood,(I) which cannot see, hear, or walk.(J) 21 And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:13 Other mss omit four
  2. 9:16 Other mss read a hundred million

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the gold altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 Then the four angels who had been made ready for that hour, day, month, and year were released to kill a third of humankind. 16 The number of cavalry troops was two hundred million. I heard their number. 17 And this is the way I saw the horses and their riders in the vision: they had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The horses’ heads were like lions’ heads, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur. 18 By these three plagues a third of humankind was killed: by the fire, smoke, and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 The horses’ power is in their mouths and their tails, for their tails are like snakes with heads that inflict injuries.

20 The rest of humankind, who weren’t killed by these plagues, didn’t change their hearts and lives and turn from their handiwork. They didn’t stop worshipping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can’t see or hear or walk. 21 They didn’t turn away from their murders, their spells and drugs, their sexual immorality, or their stealing.

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