Chronological
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
6 Then I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” [a] 2 I looked, and behold, there was a white horse.[b] The one riding on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him. He went out as a conqueror so he might conquer.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, fiery red. The one riding on it was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. He was given a great sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” And behold, I saw a black horse.[c] The one riding on it held a balance scale in his hand. 6 Then I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart[d] of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius—but do no harm to the oil and wine!”[e]
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, “Come!” 8 Behold, I saw a horse, pale greenish gray. The name of the one riding on it was Death, and Sheol was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword and by famine and by plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.[f]
9 When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered[g] for the sake of the word of God and for the witness they had. 10 And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “O Sovereign Master, holy and true, how long before You judge those who dwell on the earth and avenge our blood?”
11 Then a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants was complete—their brothers and sisters who were to be killed as they had been.
12 I saw when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as black as sackcloth made
of goat’s hair, and the full moon became like blood. 13 The stars of heaven fell to the earth like a fig tree drops unripe figs when
shaken by a great wind. 14 The heaven ripped apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from their places.
15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the military commanders and the rich and the mighty and everyone—slave and free—hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. [h] 16 And they tell the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us[i] from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17 For the great day of their wrath has come,[j] and who is able to stand?”
144,000 Marked with a Seal
7 After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth[k] so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east,[l] having the seal of the living God. He cried out with a loud voice to the four angels who were permitted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do no harm to the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”[m]
4 Now I heard the number of those marked with the seal:
144,000 from every tribe of Bnei-Yisrael—
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah;
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben;
12,000 from the tribe of Gad;
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher;
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali;
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh;
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon;
12,000 from the tribe of Levi;
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar;
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun;
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph;
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin.
Countless Worshipers Before the Throne
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a vast multitude that no one could count—from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues—was standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes, with palm branches[n] in their hands 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne, along with the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
“Amen, blessing and glory
and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honor and power and might
belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these dressed in white robes, and where have they come from?”
I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
14 Then he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.[o] They have washed their robes and made them white[p] in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason, they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His Temple. The One seated on the throne will shelter them. [q] 16 They shall never again go hungry, nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. [r] 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them and guide them to springs of living water, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[s]
The Seventh Seal and Seven Trumpets
8 Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets[t] were given to them. 3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden incense burner.[u] He was given much incense to offer up along with the prayers of all the kedoshim upon the golden altar before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the kedoshim,[v] rose before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the incense burner and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there were clashes of thunder and rumblings and flashes of lightning and earthquakes.[w]
6 Then the seven angels holding the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. 7 The first trumpeted,[x] and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were thrown upon the earth.[y] A third of the earth burned up, a third of the trees burned up, and all the green grass burned up.
8 The second angel trumpeted, and something like a huge mountain[z] ablaze with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel trumpeted, and a great star fell from the heavens, burning like a torch. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 Now the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters that were made bitter.[aa]
12 The fourth angel trumpeted, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them were darkened.[ab] A third of the day would not shine, as well as a third of the night.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying out with a loud voice as it flew high in the sky, saying, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpets the three angels are about to sound!”
9 Then the fifth angel trumpeted, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key to the bottomless pit was given to him. 2 He opened the pit, and smoke rose from the pit like the smoke of a gigantic furnace.[ac] The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.
3 Then from the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given to them like the scorpions have power over the earth. [ad] 4 They were told to do no harm to the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. [ae] 5 And they were permitted not to kill them, but to torment them for five months—and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a person. 6 In those days, people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.[af]
7 Now the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle.[ag] On their heads were something like crowns of gold, and their faces were like human faces. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like those of lions. [ah] 9 They had chests like iron breastplates; and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle. [ai] 10 They have tails like scorpions with stingers; and in their tails is their power to harm people for five months. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.[aj]
12 The first woe is past. Behold, two woes are still coming after these things.
13 The sixth angel trumpeted, and I heard a single voice from the four horns of the golden altar[ak] before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel, the one holding the trumpet,[al] “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
15 So the four angels—who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year—were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was two hundred million[am]—I heard their number. 17 Now here is how I saw the horses and those riding on them: they had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were as heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and brimstone.[an]
18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that 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 by which they inflict injuries.
20 But the rest of mankind, those not killed by these plagues, did not repent and turn away from the works of their hands—they would not stop worshiping demons and the idols of gold and silver and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. [ao] 21 And they did not repent and turn away from their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their stealing.
The Angel with a Little Scroll
10 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had in his hand a little scroll that was open. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he cried out with a loud voice, just as a lion roars. When he cried out, the seven thunders spoke.[ap]
4 And when the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said. Do not write it down!”[aq]
5 Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven 6 and swore[ar] by the One who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay.
7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel—when he is about to trumpet—the mystery of God is completed, just as He declared to His servants the prophets. [as] 8 Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”
9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. And he tells me, “Take and eat it. It will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth.”[at]
10 So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth; but when I had swallowed it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And they tell me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”
Two Witnesses
11 Then a measuring rod like a staff was given to me, saying, “Get up and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count those worshiping in it. [au] 2 But do not measure the court outside the Temple—leave it out, because it has been given to the nations, and they shall trample the holy city for forty-two months. [av] 3 And I will grant authority to My two witnesses and they will prophesy for 1,260 days,[aw] dressed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two menorot that are standing before the Lord of the earth. [ax] 5 If anyone wishes to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and consumes their enemies. If anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. [ay] 6 These two have the power to shut the heavens, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying.[az] And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.[ba]
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the abyss will make war on them, and overcome them and kill them. [bb] 8 And their corpses will lie in the open street[bc] of the great city that figuratively is called Sodom and Egypt—where also their[bd] Lord was crucified. 9 Some from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their corpses for three and a half days, not allowing them to be placed into a grave. [be] 10 Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them. They will celebrate and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet;[bf] and great fear fell on those who were watching them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.[bg]
13 At that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed.[bh] Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. The third woe is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 Then the seventh angel trumpeted, and there were loud voices in heaven saying,
“The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of His Anointed One.
And He shall reign forever and ever!”[bi]
16 And the twenty-four elders seated on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“We thank you, Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot,[bj]
who is and who was,
because You have taken Your great power
and begun to reign.
18 The nations were enraged,
but Your wrath has come[bk]
and the time for the dead to be judged—
to reward Your servants,
the prophets and kedoshim,
and those who fear Your name,
the small and the great,
and to destroy the destroyers of the earth.”[bl]
19 Then the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the Ark of His Covenant appeared in His Temple. And there were flashes of lightning and rumblings and clashes of thunder and an earthquake and heavy hail.[bm]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.