Chronological

The Vision of the Seven Seals: The First Four Seals

6 And I watched when the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. And I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come.”^[a]

² And I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider held a bow. A crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

³ When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come.”^{[b] 4} And another horse, a fiery red one, went out. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth so that people would slaughter one another. And a great sword was given to him.

⁵ When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come.”^[c] And I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider had a scale in his hand. ⁶ And I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures say, “A quart^[d] of wheat for a denarius,^[e] and three quarts^[f] of barley for a denarius. And do not dilute^[g] the oil and the wine.”

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come.”^{[h] 8} And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. And its rider was named Death, and the Grave^[i] followed closely behind him. They were given power over a quarter of the earth, to kill people with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth.

The Fifth Seal: The Souls Under the Altar

⁹ When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, under the incense altar I saw the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had maintained. ¹⁰ And they called out with a loud voice, saying, “O Lord, holy and true, how long until you judge and exact justice for our blood from those who live on the earth?” ¹¹ A white robe was given to each one of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until their number would be complete, when their fellow servants and their brothers^[j] would be put to death as they were.

The Sixth Seal: The Last Judgment

¹² And I watched when the Lamb opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair. The entire moon became like blood. ¹³ The stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when it is shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴ The sky was removed like a scroll being rolled up. Every mountain and island was moved from its place.

¹⁵ The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military leaders, the rich, the powerful, and everyone—slave or free—hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they kept saying to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ for the great day of their^[k] wrath has come. Who is able to stand?”

The Church on Earth

7 After this I saw four angels, who stood at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth so that the wind could not blow on the earth, the sea, or any tree.

² And I saw another angel coming up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He called out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to harm the earth and the sea. He said, ³ “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have placed a seal on the foreheads of God’s servants.”

⁴ And I heard the number of those sealed:

144,000 sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel:

The Church in Heaven

⁹ After these things I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They called out with a loud voice and said:

¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying:

¹³ One of the elders spoke to me and said, “These people dressed in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?”

And I answered him, “Sir, you know.”

¹⁴ And he said to me:

The Seventh Seal: Seven Angels With Seven Trumpets

8 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ² And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

³ Another angel, holding a gold censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer together with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar that was in front of the throne. ⁴ And the smoke of the incense went up from the hand of the angel before God, together with the prayers of the saints.

⁵ The angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. Then there came crashes of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The First Four Trumpets

⁶ The seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, prepared to sound them. ⁷ The first sounded his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, and^[l] a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸ Then the second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, ⁹ a third of the creatures that live in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a huge star, blazing like a lamp, fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star was Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood.^[m] Many of the people died from these waters because they had been made bitter.

¹² Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, as well as a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them became dark. And there was no light for a third of the day and likewise for the night.

¹³ Then I looked and I heard a single eagle^[n] flying in the middle of the sky, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those whose home is on the earth because of the remaining trumpet blasts of the three angels who are about to sound their trumpets.”

The Fifth Trumpet—The Locusts From Hell

9 Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen out of heaven to the earth, and the key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. ² He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke came up out of the pit like the smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit. ³ And out of the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given the kind of power that scorpions of the earth have. ⁴ They were told not to harm the earth’s grass, any green plant, or any tree, but only those people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.

⁵ Indeed, they were not given permission to kill these people but only to torture them for five months. And the pain they cause is like the pain caused by a scorpion when it stings a person. ⁶ In those days people will seek death but will certainly not find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads were what appeared to be crowns that were like gold. Their faces looked like human faces. ⁸ They had hair that looked like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ They had breastplates that appeared to be made of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots and horses charging into battle. ¹⁰ They had tails with stingers like those of scorpions, and in their tails they had power to hurt people for five months.

¹¹ They have the angel of the abyss over them as their king. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.^[o]

¹² One woe is past. Look! After these things two more woes are coming.

The Sixth Trumpet

¹³ Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice speak from the four^[p] horns of the gold incense altar that is before God. ¹⁴ It said to the sixth angel, the one with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ And the four angels who had been prepared for this hour, day, month, and year were let loose so that they could kill a third of the people.

¹⁶ The number of soldiers on horseback was two hundred million. I heard their number. ¹⁷ And this is what I saw in the vision of the horses and their riders: They had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ As a result of these three plagues, the fire and the smoke and the sulfur that came out of their mouths, a third of mankind was killed. ¹⁹ For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like snakes that have heads, which they use to cause injuries.

²⁰ The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands by giving up their worship of demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, or wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. ²¹ And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immoralities, or their thefts.

The Angel With a Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down out of heaven. He was clothed with a cloud, a rainbow was over his head, his face was like the sun, his feet were like pillars of fire, ² and he had in his hand a little scroll, which had been opened. He put his right foot on the sea and his left on the land, ³ and he cried out with a loud voice, just as a lion roars. And when he cried out, the seven thunders spoke using their own voices.

⁴ When the seven thunders had spoken, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up the things that the seven thunders said, and do not write them down.”

⁵ The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven, ⁶ and he swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created the sky and the things in it, the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it. He said, “There will be no more delay. ⁷ Instead, in the days of the sound made by the seventh angel, that is, when he is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will also be completed, exactly as he made this good news known to his servants the prophets.”

John’s Commission to Prophesy

⁸ The voice that I heard from heaven also spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that has been opened in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little scroll.”

He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ I took the little scroll out of the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹ And they said to me, “It is necessary that you prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then a measuring rod like a staff was given to me. He said,^[q] “Stand up and measure the incense altar and the temple of God and those who worship in it. ² Exclude the outer court of the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the heathen. They will trample the holy city for forty-two months. ³ I will commission my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴ These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that are standing before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ If anyone wants to harm them, fire is going to come out of their mouths and consume their enemies. If anyone should want to harm them, it is necessary that he be killed in this way.

⁶ These two have the authority to shut the sky so that no rain falls during the days when they are prophesying. They also have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and the authority to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

The Beast That Kills the Two Witnesses

⁷ When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will fight against them, conquer them, and kill them. ⁸ Their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city, which spiritually^[r] is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

⁹ Some from the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. ¹⁰ Those who dwell on the earth will also rejoice over them and celebrate by sending gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

¹¹ After three and a half days the breath of life from God came into them. They stood on their feet, and a great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹² And I^[s] heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up into heaven in a cloud, as their enemies watched them. ¹³ At that moment there was also a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed by the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave praise to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second woe is past. See, the third woe is coming soon.

The Seventh Trumpet: The End of the World

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying:

¹⁶ The twenty-four elders, who were sitting on their thrones before God, also fell on their faces and worshipped God, ¹⁷ saying:

¹⁹ And God’s temple in heaven was opened and the Ark of his Covenant was seen in his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.