Beginning

God on his throne

4 After this, I looked. There in front of me was an open door in heaven. I heard the same voice that I had heard before. It spoke like the sound of a trumpet. It said to me, ‘Come up here. I will show you the things that must happen after this.’

² Immediately God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear more things. I saw a throne in heaven, with someone sitting on it. ³ The person who sat there shone with bright red and white light, like jewels called jasper and ruby. Around the throne there was a rainbow that shone with bright green light like an emerald jewel. ⁴ All around the throne there were 24 other thrones. 24 leaders were sitting on these thrones. They were wearing white clothes and they had gold crowns on their heads. ⁵ A storm with bright lightning came from the throne. There was the loud noise of thunder. In front of the throne there were seven lights of fire burning brightly. These lights are the seven spirits of God.^{[a] 6} Also in front of the throne there was something like a sea of glass that shone with light.

In the middle, round the throne, there were four other beings that were alive. They had eyes all over them, on their fronts and on their backs. ⁷ The first of these beings was like a lion. The second being was like an ox. The third being had a face like a man's face. And the fourth being was like an eagle that was flying. ⁸ Each of these four beings had six wings. They had eyes all over them, even under their wings. All day and all night they never stop saying:

⁹ God sits on the throne and he is alive for ever. The four beings that are alive worship him and they thank him. ¹⁰ When they do this, the 24 leaders bend down to the ground. They also worship the Lord God, who sits on the throne and is alive for ever. They put their crowns in front of God's throne, and they praise him. They say:

The book and the Lamb

5 Then I looked at the one who was sitting on the throne. I saw that he held a book in his right hand.^[b] Words were written on both sides, the inside and the outside. Seven seals kept the book closed. ² Then I saw a powerful angel. He said with a loud voice, ‘Who is so good that they can break the seals? Who can open the book?’ ³ But nobody in heaven could open the book and look inside it. Neither could anyone on the earth or anyone under the earth open it.^[c]

⁴ I wept much because there was nobody who was good enough. Nobody was so good that they could open the book. Nobody could look inside it. ⁵ Then one of the leaders said to me, ‘Do not weep! Look! There is someone who can break the seven seals and then open the book. His name is the Lion from Judah's tribe. He is called the Root of King David. He has won over all his enemies.’^[d]

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb. He was standing in the middle of the throne. The four beings that are alive and the leaders were around him. The Lamb appeared to be like a lamb that someone had killed. He had seven horns and seven eyes. His eyes are the seven spirits of God, that God has sent into all parts of the world. ⁷ The Lamb came and he took the book. He took it from the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. ⁸ When he had taken the book, the four beings and the 24 leaders fell down to the ground in front of the Lamb. They worshipped him. Each leader had a harp to make music. They were also holding gold bowls which were full of incense. That nice smell shows what it is like when God's people pray to him. ⁹ The beings that are alive and the leaders sang a new song. They sang:

¹¹ Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of many angels. There were thousands and millions of them. They were standing around the throne, with the beings that are alive and the leaders. ¹² They all sang with loud voices:

¹³ Then I heard everything that is alive singing. That was everything in heaven and everything on the earth, and everything under the earth and everything in the sea. They were singing:

¹⁴ The four beings that are alive agreed. They said, ‘Yes, this is true.’ The leaders fell down and they worshipped God and the Lamb.^[e]

The Lamb opens the seals

6 Then I watched while the Lamb opened one of the seven seals on the book. I heard one of the four beings say, ‘Come!’ It spoke very loudly with a voice like thunder. ² I looked, and I saw a white horse. The person who was riding the horse held a bow. Someone gave him a crown. He had fought against many people and he had won. Now he rode out on his horse to win against many more people.

³ Then the Lamb opened the second seal. I heard another of the beings say, ‘Come!’ ⁴ Then another horse came out. This horse was bright red, like fire. The person who was riding the horse had authority. He could take peace away from the earth, so that people killed each other. Someone gave him a large sword.

⁵ Then the Lamb opened the third seal. I heard the next being say, ‘Come!’ I looked, and I saw a black horse. The person who was riding the horse held something in his hand. He used it to weigh things. ⁶ Then I heard a sound like somebody speaking among the four beings. The voice said, ‘A litre of wheat is worth one day's work. And three litres of barley is also worth one day's work. But do not destroy the olive oil and the wine.’^[f]

⁷ Then the Lamb opened the fourth seal. I heard the last being say, ‘Come!’ ⁸ I looked, and I saw a grey horse.^[g] The name of the person who was riding the horse was Death. The place for dead people, called Hades, was following near to him. They had authority to kill people in a quarter of the earth. They could kill people in different ways. They could kill them in wars. They could cause people to die because there was no food. They could cause people to become very ill so that they died. They could also cause wild animals to kill people.

⁹ Then the Lamb opened the fifth seal. I saw an altar where people offered gifts to God. I saw the souls of some of God's people under the altar. These people had died because they had believed God's message. They had continued to speak the true message about Jesus Christ. That is why people had killed them. ¹⁰ These believers called out loudly, ‘Lord, you have all authority. You are completely good. You always do what is right. When will you decide to judge the people who live on the earth? Do not wait! You should quickly punish the people who killed us!’

¹¹ Then each believer received white clothes. God told them to wait for a short time more. They must wait until other believers on earth also died. These believers are also servants of God. God will wait until people kill those believers too. Then the number of them will be complete.

¹² I watched again. I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal. Then the ground shook with a great earthquake. The sun became black like thick black cloth. The whole moon became red like blood. ¹³ The stars in the sky fell to the earth. They fell like fruits fall from a tree when a strong wind blows. ¹⁴ The sky divided into two parts. It rolled up like a piece of paper. Every mountain and every island moved away from its place.

¹⁵ Then everyone on the earth hid themselves. They went to the mountains and they hid among the rocks and in holes in the rocks. Everyone tried to hide, even the kings and the rulers. The soldiers' leaders, the rich people and other powerful people all went to hide. Everyone hid, whether they were slaves or free people. ¹⁶ They shouted to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and cover us. Hide us, so that the one who sits on the throne cannot see us. Also hide us from the Lamb who is very angry with us. ¹⁷ Their great day has come. They will punish us because they are so angry. Nobody will be able to escape.’

God marks his people from Israel

7 After this, I saw four angels. They were standing at the four corners of the earth. They were stopping the four winds of the earth. As a result, no wind could blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel who was coming up from the east. He was carrying the seal of the God who lives for ever. He shouted loudly to the four other angels. They had received authority to destroy the land and the sea. ³ But he shouted to them, ‘Do not destroy the land or the sea or the trees yet. Wait until we put a seal on the heads of God's servants. God's seal on the front of their heads will keep them safe.’

⁴ Then I heard how many people received God's seal. The number of people was 144,000. They came from all the tribes of Israel's people:

The large crowd who were wearing white clothes

⁹ After this, I looked again. I saw a very big crowd of people. There were so many people that nobody could count them. They came from every nation, from every tribe and from every language. They were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing long white clothes and they held branches of palm trees in their hands.^[i]

¹⁰ They shouted loudly:

¹¹ All the angels were standing around the throne, and around the leaders and the four beings. The angels all bent down so that their faces touched the ground. They worshipped God who was on the throne in front of them. ¹² They said:

¹³ Then one of the leaders asked me, ‘Who are these people in white clothes? Where did they come from?’

¹⁴ I replied, ‘You surely know who they are, sir.’

He said to me, ‘They are the people who have had a time of very bad trouble. Now they have come out of that. They have washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb. Now their clothes are white and clean.^{[j] 15} Because of that, they are now standing in front of God's throne. They serve God in his house all the time, day and night. And God will keep them safe because he is with them. ¹⁶ They will never again be hungry. They will never be thirsty. The sun will not burn them, nor will any other strong heat burn them. ¹⁷ The Lamb is there with them, near to God's throne. He will take care of them, like a shepherd with his sheep. He will take them to drink fresh water that gives people life. They will no longer be sad. God will take away all the tears from their eyes.’

The Lamb opens the last seal

8 The Lamb opened the seventh seal. Then it became completely quiet in heaven for about half an hour. ² Then I saw the seven angels who stand in front of God. Someone gave them seven trumpets.

³ Then another angel came. He stood at the altar where people offered gifts to God. He had a gold bowl to put incense in. He received a lot of incense and he burned it as a gift to God. It made a nice smell and it mixed with the prayers of God's people. The angel offered the incense and the prayers on the gold altar that was in front of God's throne.^{[k] 4} When he did that, the smoke from the incense went up in front of God. The prayers of God's people also went up to God. ⁵ Then the angel took the gold bowl and he filled it with fire from the altar. Then he threw it all down onto the earth. There were loud noises and the sound of thunder. There was bright lightning, like a very bad storm. The earth shook with an earthquake.

The first four trumpets

⁶ Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to make a noise with their trumpets. ⁷ The first angel made a sound with his trumpet. Strong rain with stones of ice fell on the earth. The rain was mixed with fire and blood and it poured down. It burned a third of the earth. It destroyed a third of the trees and all the green grass.

⁸ Then the second angel made a sound with his trumpet. I saw something like a very big mountain that was burning with fire. This mountain fell down into the sea. A third of the sea became blood. ⁹ A third of the animals that lived in the sea died. It also destroyed a third of the ships on the sea.

¹⁰ Then the third angel made a sound with his trumpet. I saw a very big star, which was burning with a bright light. It fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star means ‘It tastes bad’. A third of the water on the earth became bad. Many people died because they drank that bad water.

¹² Then the fourth angel made a sound with his trumpet. A third of the sun became dark. A third of the moon and a third of the stars also became dark. There was no light for a third of the day and there was no light for a third of the night.^[l]

¹³ Then I looked up. I saw an eagle that was flying high in the sky above me. I heard it say with a loud voice, ‘Great trouble! Great trouble! Yes, great trouble is coming to the people who live on the earth! Very bad things will happen when the other three angels make a sound with their trumpets!’