Beginning

In the throne room

4 After this I looked—and there was a door in heaven, standing open! The voice like a trumpet, which I had heard speaking with me at the beginning, spoke again. “Come up here,” it said, “and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

² At once I was in the spirit. There in heaven stood a throne, and someone was sitting on it. ³ The seated figure had the appearance of a jasper stone or a carnelian, and there was a rainbow around the throne, looking like an emerald. ⁴ Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and sitting on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white robes, and with golden crowns on their heads. ⁵ Flashes of lightning, rumblings and thunderclaps were coming from the throne, and in front of the throne seven lampstands, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning with fire. ^6a In front of the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal.

Praise to the creator

^6b In the middle of the throne, and all around the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind. ⁷ The first creature was like a lion, the second creature was like an ox, the third creature had a human face, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each of the four creatures had six wings, and they were full of eyes all round and inside. Day and night they take no rest, as they say,

⁹ When the creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to the one who is sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down in front of the one who is sitting on the throne, and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They throw down their crowns in front of the throne, saying, ¹¹ “O Lord our God, you deserve to receive glory and honor and power, because you created all things; they existed and were created because that is what you willed.”

The lion, the lamb

5 I saw that there was a scroll in the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. The scroll was written on the inside and the outside, and it was sealed with seven seals. ² I saw a strong angel announcing in a loud voice, “Does anybody deserve to open the scroll, to undo its seals?” ³ And nobody in heaven or on the earth or under the earth could open the scroll or look at it. ⁴ I burst into tears because it seemed that there was nobody who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside it. ⁵ One of the elders, however, spoke to me. “Don’t cry,” he said. “Look! The lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has won the victory! He can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a lamb. It was standing there as though it had been slaughtered; it had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ The lamb came up and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne.

Worthy is the lamb!

⁸ When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down in front of the lamb. They each had a harp, and they each had golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s holy people. ⁹ They sing a new song, which goes like this:

¹¹ As I watched, I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders. Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, ¹² and they were declaring in full voice,

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, and in the sea, and everything that is in them, saying,

¹⁴ “Amen!” cried the four living creatures. And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Four horsemen

6 The next thing I saw was this. When the lamb had opened one of the seven seals, I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” ² And, as I watched, there was a white horse. Its rider was holding a bow. He was given a crown, and he went off winning victories, and to win more of them.

³ When the lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ And another horse went out, fiery red this time. Its rider was given permission to take peace away from the earth, so that people would kill one another. He was given a great sword.

⁵ When the lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” As I watched, there was a black horse. Its rider held a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ I heard something like a voice coming from the midst of the four living creatures. “A quart of wheat for a dinar!” said the voice. “And three quarts of barley for a dinar! But don’t ruin the oil and the wine!”

⁷ When the lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ As I looked, there was a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. Hades followed along behind him. They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with famine, and with death, and by means of the earth’s wild animals.

The day is coming!

⁹ When the lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God and because of the witness which they had borne. ¹⁰ They shouted at the tops of their voices. “Holy and true Master!” they called. “How much longer are you going to put off giving judgment, and avenging our blood on the earth-dwellers?” ¹¹ Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest for a little while yet, until the full number of those to be killed, as they had been, was reached—including both their fellow-servants and their kinsfolk.

¹² As I looked, he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake, the sun turned black like sackcloth, the whole moon became like blood, ¹³ and the stars were falling from heaven onto the earth as when a fig tree, shaken by a strong wind, drops its late fruit. ¹⁴ The heaven disappeared like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. ¹⁵ The kings of the earth, the leading courtiers, the generals, the rich, the power-brokers, and everyone, slave and free, all hid themselves among the caves and rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ “Fall upon us!” they were saying to the mountains and the rocks. “Hide us from the face of the One who sits on the throne, and from the anger of the lamb! ¹⁷ The great day of their anger has come, and who can stand upright?”

Sealing God’s people

7 After this I saw four angels, standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to stop any wind from blowing on earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. ² And I saw another angel coming up from the east, holding the seal of the living God. He shouted out in a loud voice to the four angels who had responsibility for harming the earth and the sea. ³ “Don’t harm the earth just yet,” he shouted, “or the sea, or the trees. Don’t do it until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

⁴ I heard the number of the people who were sealed: it was a hundred and forty-four thousand who were sealed from all the tribes of the children of Israel. ⁵ Twelve thousand were sealed from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad, ⁶ twelve thousand from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh, ⁷ twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar, ⁸ twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph and twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin. That is the number that were sealed.

The great rescue

⁹ After this I looked, and lo and behold a huge gathering which nobody could possibly count, from every nation and tribe and people and language. They were standing in front of the throne, and in front of the lamb. They were dressed in white robes, holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They were shouting out at the tops of their voices, “Salvation belongs to our God, to the one who sits on the throne, and to the lamb!” ¹¹ All the angels who were standing around the throne and the elders and the four creatures fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. ¹² “Yes, Amen!” they were saying. “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever! Amen!”

¹³ One of the elders spoke to me. “Who are these people dressed all in white?” he said. “Where have they come from?”

¹⁴ “Sir,” I replied, “you know!”

“These are the ones,” he said, “who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their clothes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. ¹⁵ That is why they are there in front of God’s throne, serving him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. ¹⁶ They will never be hungry again, or thirsty again. The sun will not scorch them, nor will any fierce heat. ¹⁷ The lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of running water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

The golden censer

8 When the lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven, lasting about half an hour. ² I saw the seven angels who were standing in front of God; they were given seven trumpets. ³ Another angel came and stood before the altar. He was holding a golden censer, and he was given a large quantity of incense so that he could offer it, along with the prayers of all God’s holy people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. ⁴ The smoke of incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose up from the hand of the angel in front of God. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. There were crashes of thunder, loud rumblings, lightning, and an earthquake.

The plagues begin

⁶ Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets got ready to blow them. ⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were thrown down on the earth. A third of the earth was burnt up, a third of the trees were burnt up, and so was every blade of green grass. ⁸ Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, flaming with fire, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹ a third of all living sea-creatures died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. ¹⁰ Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star, burning like a torch, fell from the sky, falling on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Poisonwood: a third of the waters turned to poison, and many people died because of the waters that had become bitter. ¹² Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light would be darkened, with a third of the day losing its light and a third of the night as well. ¹³ Then I looked, and I heard a lone eagle flying in mid-heaven, and calling out loudly. “Woe, woe, woe to the earth-dwellers,” it called, “because of the sound of the other trumpets that the last three angels are going to blow!”