Chronological

The Opening of the First Six Seals

6 And I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying like the sound of thunder, “Come!” ² And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and in order that he might conquer.

³ And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!” ⁴ And another horse came out, fiery red, and it was granted to the one seated on it to take peace from the earth, and that they would slaughter one another, and a large sword was given to him.

⁵ And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and the one seated on it had a balance scale in his hand. ⁶ And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not damage the olive oil and the wine!”

⁷ And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard a voice from the fourth living creature saying, “Come!” ⁸ And I looked, and behold, a pale green horse, and the one seated on it was named^[a] Death, and Hades followed after him. And authority was granted to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword and by famine and by pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

⁹ And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had, ¹⁰ and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long^[b], holy and true Lord, will you not judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” ¹¹ And to each one of them a white robe was given, and it was said to them that they should rest yet a short time, until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed as they had been were completed also.

¹² And I watched when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake took place, and the sun became black like sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood, ¹³ and the stars of heaven^[c] fell to the earth like a fig tree throws down its unripe figs when^[d] shaken by a great wind. ¹⁴ And the sky was split apart like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved from their place. ¹⁵ And the kings of the earth, and the most important people, and the military leaders, and the rich, and the powerful, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

The Sealing of the 144,000

7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. ² And I saw another angel ascending from the east^[e], holding the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels who were given permission^[f] to damage the earth and the sea, ³ saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the slaves of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴ And I heard the number of the ones who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

⁵ from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand,

⁶ from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand,

⁷ from the tribe of Simeon,^[g] twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand,

⁸ from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

The Great Crowd before the Throne

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great crowd that no one was able to number, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes and with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they were crying out with a loud voice, saying,

¹¹ And all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying,

¹³ And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are dressed in the white robes—who are they, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴ And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me,

The Opening of the Seventh Seal

8 And when he 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 And another angel who had a golden censer came and stood at the altar, and a large amount of incense was given to him, in order that he could offer the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. ⁴ And the smoke of the incense went up before God with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel. ⁵ And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire from the altar and threw it to the earth, and there were thunders and sounds and lightnings and an earthquake.

The Blowing of the Trumpets

⁶ And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves in order to blow them.

⁷ And the first blew the trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown to the earth, and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸ And the second angel blew the trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood, ⁹ and a third of the creatures in the sea—the ones which had life—died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ And the third angel blew the trumpet, and a great star burning like a torch fell from heaven, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ And the name of the star was called Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters because they were made bitter.

¹² And the fourth angel blew the 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 them were darkened, and the day did not shine with respect to a third of it, and the night likewise.

¹³ And I looked, and I heard one eagle flying directly overhead^[m], saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who live on the earth, from the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow the trumpet!”

Tormenting Locusts from the Abyss

9 And the fifth angel blew the trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key of the shaft of the abyss was given to him. ² And he opened the shaft of the abyss, and smoke went up from the shaft like smoke from a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft. ³ And out of the smoke locusts came to the earth, and power was given to them like the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴ And it was told to them that they should not damage the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, except those people who do not have the seal of God on their^[n] foreheads. ⁵ And it was granted to them that they should not kill them, but that they would be tormented five months, and their torment is like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a person. ⁶ And in those days people will seek death and will never find it, and they will long to die, and death will flee from them.

⁷ And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were something like crowns similar in appearance to gold, and their faces were like men’s faces, ⁸ and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions, ⁹ and they had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots^[o] running into battle. ¹⁰ And they have tails similar in appearance to scorpions, and stings, and their power to injure people for five months is in their tails. ¹¹ They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name^[p] in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.

¹² The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

A Third of Humanity Killed by Plagues

¹³ And the sixth angel blew the trumpet, and I heard one voice from the horns^[q] of the golden altar that is before God ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel, the one who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates!” ¹⁵ And the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year were released, in order that they should kill a third of humanity. ¹⁶ And the number of the troops of the cavalry was two hundred million^[r]; I heard the number of them. ¹⁷ And in this way I saw the horses in the vision, and those seated on them, who had fiery red and hyacinth-colored and sulphurous yellow breastplates, and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and sulphur. ¹⁸ By these three plagues a third of humanity was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the sulphur 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 similar in appearance to snakes, having heads, and with them they cause injury.^[s]

²⁰ And the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, in order not to worship^[t] the demons and the gold and silver and bronze and stone and wooden idols, which are able neither to see nor to hear nor to walk, ²¹ and they did not repent of their murders or of their magic spells or of their sexual immorality or of their thefts.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 And I saw another powerful angel descending from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, and a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire,^{[u] 2} and holding in his hand a little scroll that was opened. And he put his right foot on the sea and his^[v] left on the land. ³ And he cried out with a loud voice like a lion roars, and when he cried out, the seven thunders sounded^[w] their own voices. ⁴ And when the seven thunders spoke,^[x] I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them!”

⁵ And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by the one who lives forever and ever^[y], who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, “There will be no more delay! ⁷ But in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, whenever he is about to blow the trumpet, then^[z] the mystery of God is completed, as he announced to his own slaves the prophets.”

⁸ And the voice that I had heard from heaven was speaking with me again and saying, “Go, take the opened scroll in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ And I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll, and he said to me, “Take and eat it up, and it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it up, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth, and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹ And they said to me, “It is necessary for you to prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 And a measuring rod similar in appearance to a staff was given to me, saying, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it. ² And leave out the courtyard outside of the temple, and do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will trample the holy city for forty two months. ³ And I will grant authority^[aa] to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, dressed in sackcloth.” ⁴ These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and consumes their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, in this way he must be killed. ⁶ These have the authority to shut the sky, so that it does not rain^[ab] during the days of their prophecy. And they have authority over the waters, to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with every plague as often as they wish.

⁷ And when they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war with them and will conquer them and will kill them. ⁸ And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is called symbolically Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹ And those from peoples and tribes and languages and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days, and they will not allow their dead bodies to be placed in a tomb. ¹⁰ And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them, and will celebrate and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth.

¹¹ And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹² And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here,” and they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And at that hour a great earthquake took place, and a tenth of the city collapsed, and seven thousand people^[ac] were killed by the earthquake, and the rest became terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. ¹⁴ The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly!

The Blowing of the Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵ And the seventh angel blew the trumpet, and there was a loud voice in heaven saying,

¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God fell down on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying,

¹⁹ And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were lightnings and sounds and thunders and an earthquake and large hail.^[af]