Revelation 9:13-21
Expanded Bible
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns [C some ancient manuscripts specify that there are four horns; protrusions on the four corners of the altar symbolizing God’s strength] on the golden altar [C the incense altar; Ex. 30:1–10] that is before God. 14 The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “·Free [Release] the four angels who are ·tied [bound] at the great river Euphrates [7:1].” 15 And they ·let loose [released] the four angels who had been ·kept ready [prepared] for this hour and day and month and year so they could kill a third of ·all people on the earth [L humanity; mankind]. 16 I heard how many troops on horses were in their army—two hundred million.
17 The horses and their riders I saw in the vision looked like this: They had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue [L hyacinth-colored], and yellow like sulfur [brimstone]. The heads of the horses looked like heads of lions, with fire, smoke, and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 18 A third of ·all the people on earth [humanity; mankind] were killed by these three ·terrible disasters [plagues] coming out of the horses’ mouths: the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur. 19 The horses’ ·power [authority] was in their mouths and in their tails; their tails were like snakes with heads [12:9; Gen. 3:1–7], and with them they ·hurt [damaged; injured; wounded] people.
20 The ·other [rest of the] people who were not killed by these ·terrible disasters [plagues] still did not ·change their hearts and turn away from what they had made with their own hands [L repent from the works of their hands]. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—things that cannot see or hear or walk [Ps. 115:4–7; 135:17; Jer. 10:1–16]. 21 These people did not ·change their hearts and turn away from [repent of] murder or ·evil magic [sorcery], from their ·sexual sins [fornication] or stealing.
Read full chapter
Revelation 9:13-21
Amplified Bible
The Sixth Trumpet—Army from the East
13 Then the sixth angel sounded [his trumpet], and I heard a solitary voice from the four horns of the golden altar which stands before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the [appointed] hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand (two hundred million); I heard the number of them. 17 And this is how I saw the horses and their riders in my vision: the riders had breastplates [the color] of fire and of hyacinth (sapphire blue) and of brimstone (yellow); and the heads of the horses looked like the heads of lions; and from out of their mouths came fire and smoke and brimstone (burning sulfur). 18 A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that came from the mouths of the horses. 19 For the power of the horses [to do harm] is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and it is with them that they do harm.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, [a]did not repent even then of the works of their hands, so as to cease worshiping and paying homage to the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;(A) 21 and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries (drugs, intoxications) nor of their [sexual] immorality nor of their thefts.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Revelation 9:20 The wickedness of idolatry is so deep and deceptive that idolaters refuse to repent in spite of the overwhelming evidence of God’s displeasure with them (Ps 115:8; 135:18).
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
