Historical

6 I saw the Lamb open one of the seven locks. I heard the voice of one of the four living beings call, `Come!' It sounded like thunder.

² And I looked and saw a white horse. The man who rode on it had a bow to shoot arrows. A gold crown for his head was given to him. And he went out fighting to win the victory over his enemies.

³ When the Lamb opened the second lock, I heard the second living being call, `Come!'

⁴ And another horse came out. It was red. The man who rode on it was allowed to take peace away from the earth, so that men would kill each other. The man who rode on it was given a long knife or sword.

⁵ When the Lamb opened the third lock, I heard the third living being call, `Come!' I looked and saw a black horse. The man who rode on it had scales in his hand to weigh things.

⁶ I heard a voice among the four living beings. It said, `Four cups of wheat for bread will sell for a day's wages. Twelve cups of barley will sell for a day's wages. But do not destroy the oil and the wine.'

⁷ When the Lamb opened the fourth lock, I heard the fourth living being call, `Come!'

⁸ I saw a horse the colour of ashes. The name of the man who rode it was Death. And the one who controls the world of the dead followed him. They were given power over a fourth part of the world. They could kill people with a sword, or by making them go without food to eat, or by making them sick, or with wild animals.

⁹ When the Lamb opened the fifth lock, I saw the souls of people who had been killed. They were under the holy table where incense is burned. They had been killed because they believed God's word and said they believed it.

¹⁰ They called in a loud voice, `Lord, you are holy and true. How long will you wait before you judge and punish the people on earth because they killed us?'

¹¹ Then each one of them was given a white gown to wear. They were told to wait a little longer for the other Christian brothers. Those who worked with them for the Lord would be killed as they had been.

¹² I saw the Lamb opening the sixth lock. The earth shook very much. The sun became very dark, like the black cloth people wear to show they are sad. The full moon became red like blood.

¹³ The stars in the sky fell to the earth. They fell like figs that are not ripe when the fig tree is shaken by a strong wind.

¹⁴ The sky was taken away like paper being rolled up. Every big hill and island was shaken out of its place.

¹⁵ The kings of the world, the great men, the army captains, the rich people, the strong people, every slave, and every freeman hid themselves in holes and the rocks on the big hills.

¹⁶ They called to the hills and to the rocks and said, `Fall on us! Hide us so the One on the throne will not see us. Hide us from the Lamb who is angry with us.

¹⁷ The great day has come, and he is very angry with us. Who can stand before him?'

7 After this, I saw four angels standing at four different places on the earth. They were holding back the winds coming from every way. They did this so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.

² Then I saw another angel coming up from the place where the sun rises. He had something to put the mark of the living God on people. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels. They had been given power to hurt the earth and the sea.

³ The angel said, `Do not hurt the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have put a mark on the foreheads of God's servants.'

⁴ And I heard that one hundred and forty-four thousand people were marked. They were from every tribe of Israel.

^5-8 welve thousand people were marked from each of these tribes: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin .

⁹ After this, I looked and saw many people. There were so many that no person could count them all. They were from every country, tribe, nation, and language. I saw them standing in front of the throne and the Lamb. They wore white clothes and they had palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰ They called in a loud voice and said, `Our God who sits on the throne, and the Lamb: they are the Ones who save people. Salvation belongs to them!'

¹¹ All the angels were standing around the throne and around the leaders and the four living beings. They bowed down their faces in front of the throne and worshipped God.

¹² They said, `May it be so! Blessing, praise, glory and wisdom, thanks, honour, power, and strength belong to our God for ever and ever! Amen!'

¹³ Then one of the leaders talked to me. He said, `Who are these people wearing white clothes? Where did they come from?'

¹⁴ Then I said to him, `Sir, I do not know.' And he said to me, `These are the people who have had much trouble. They have washed their clothes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

¹⁵ That is why they are in front of God's throne. They worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will keep them safe because he is with them.

¹⁶ They will not be hungry or thirsty again. The sun or any other heat will not burn them.

¹⁷ The Lamb who is in front of the throne will take care of them. He will guide them to the places where there is water that gives life. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.'

8 When the Lamb opened the seventh lock, all was quiet in heaven for about a half hour.

² Then I saw the seven angels stand in front of God. Seven horns or trumpets were given to them.

³ Another angel came and stood at the altar. He had a gold bowl. Plenty of incense was given to him. He was to put it with all the words of all God's people when they talk to him. He was to put it on the gold altar in front of God's throne.

⁴ The sweet smelling smoke of the burning incense went up at the same time as the prayer words of God's people. They went up from the hand of the angel that was standing in front of God.

⁵ Then the angel took the bowl and filled it with fire from the altar. He threw it on the earth. There was thunder, loud noises, and lightning. And the earth shook.

⁶ The seven angels who had the seven horns or trumpets got ready to blow them.

⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet. Rain like stones, and fire mixed with blood, fell on the earth. A third part of the earth was burned. A third of the trees was burned. And one third of all the green grass was burned.

⁸ The second angel blew his trumpet. Then something like a big hill, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea.

⁹ Then a third of the sea became blood. A third of all things that lived in the sea died. A third of all the boats was broken.

¹⁰ The third angel blew his trumpet. A big star fell from the sky. It burned and gave a bright light. It fell on a third of the rivers and places where there is water.

¹¹ The name of the star is Bitter. A third part of the water became bitter. Many men died because the water was made bad to drink.

¹² The fourth angel blew his trumpet. A third of the sun was made dark. And a third of the moon and a third of the stars were made dark. A third part of them became dark. A third part of the day had no light, and also a third part of the night.

¹³ Then I looked and heard an angel who was flying across the sky. He called in a loud voice and said, `Trouble! Trouble! Trouble to the people who live on earth! Big trouble will come when the sound of the other trumpets is heard. The three angels are now ready to blow their trumpets!'

9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet. I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The key to the big hole that has no bottom was given to the angel.

² He opened the big hole and smoke came out. It was like the smoke of a very big fire. The sun and the air were made dark by the smoke from the big hole.

³ Then out of the smoke came locusts on the earth like big grasshoppers. They were given the power to hurt people the way that scorpions do.

⁴ They were told not to spoil any of the grass, nor any green plant, nor any tree on earth. They were told to hurt only the people who did not have God's mark on their foreheads.

⁵ They were told not to kill them, but to trouble them for five months. The pain they give is like the pain a scorpion gives when it strikes a person.

⁶ In those days people will look for death, but they will not be able to find it. They will want to die, but death will fly away from them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses ready to go to war. On their heads were gold crowns. And they had faces like people.

⁸ Their hair was like women's hair and their teeth like lions' teeth.

⁹ Their bodies were covered by something like pieces of iron. The noise of their wings sounded like many wagons and horses running to war.

¹⁰ The locusts had tails like scorpions that could strike people and hurt them for five months.

¹¹ The king of the locusts is the angel of the big hole that has no bottom. His name is Abaddon in the Jew's language and Apollyon in the Greek language. (This means, the one who destroys.)

¹² The first trouble is gone. Two more troubles are coming after it.

¹³ The sixth angel blew his trumpet. I heard a voice from the four horns of the gold altar in front of God.

¹⁴ The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, `Untie the four angels who are tied at the big river Euphrates.'

¹⁵ So the four angels were let free. They were ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year when they would kill a third of the people.

¹⁶ In their army were many, many thousands of men on horses. I heard the number of them.

¹⁷ I saw what the horses and the men that sat on them looked like. The bodies of the men were covered by pieces of iron that looked red like fire and blue, and yellow. The heads of the horses were like lions' heads. Fire, smoke and dust came out of their mouths. The dust was sulphur which choked and killed people when it burned in the fire.

¹⁸ By these three big troubles a third part of the people were killed. They were killed by the fire, smoke, and choking sulphur dust that came out of the mouths of the horses.

¹⁹ The power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails have heads and are like snakes. They hurt people with them.

²⁰ The other people were not killed by these big troubles. But they did not stop worshipping what they had made with their hands. They did not stop worshipping bad spirits and idols made of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood. These idols cannot see or hear or walk.

²¹ And they did not stop their killing, or their witchcraft, or their wrong ways of using sex, or their stealing.

10 Then I saw another strong angel coming down from the sky. A cloud was around him and a rainbow was over his head. His face was like the sun and his legs were like posts of fire.

² In his hand he had a small book that was open. He put his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land.

³ He called in a very loud voice like a lion roaring. When he called, it was like the voices of seven thunders.

⁴ When the seven thunders had spoken, I was going to write down what they said. But I heard a voice from the sky that said, `Do not tell what the seven thunders said. Do not write it down.'

⁵ The angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward the sky.

⁶ He made a promise in the name of the one who lives for ever and ever. He made it in the name of the one who made the sky and everything in it, who made the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, `There is no more time.

⁷ But when the seventh angel calls by blowing his trumpet, then the secret plan of God will be finished. It will happen just as God told his servants, the prophets.'

⁸ The voice I heard in the sky talked to me again. It said, `Go to the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. Take the open book from his hand.'

⁹ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. He said to me, `Take it and eat it. It will be bitter inside you, but it will be sweet like honey in your mouth.'

¹⁰ So I took the little book from the angel's hand and ate it. It was sweet like honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

¹¹ Then he said to me, `You must tell again what God is saying to many nations, countries, languages, and kings.'

11 Then I was given a long stick. And he said, `Go and measure God's temple and the altar, and count the people who worship there.

² Do not measure the part outside the temple. Leave it out, because it has been given to the people who do not believe in God. They will walk in the holy city for forty-two months.

³ I will give power to the two men who speak for me. They will speak words from God. They will continue to speak for forty-two months. They will wear clothes like people wear to show they are sad.'

⁴ These two men are the two olive trees and the two lamps which stand in front of the Lord of the earth.

⁵ If any one wants to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouths and burns up their enemies. If anyone wants to hurt them, he must be killed in this way.

⁶ These two men can stop the sky from raining all the days that they speak words from God. And they can turn the water into blood. They can bring all kinds of trouble to the earth as often as they want.

⁷ There is a beast which is a wild animal in the big hole that has no bottom. When the two men have finished talking, the beast will come up out of the hole. It will fight with the men. It will win over them and kill them.

⁸ Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the big city. This city is called, `Sodom' and `Egypt,' because it is like them. Also it is where our Lord was nailed to a cross.

⁹ People from many nations, tribes, languages, and countries will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days. They will not let anyone bury them.

¹⁰ The people on earth will be very glad to see them dead. They will have a happy time. They will give gifts to each other because these two men from God had troubled the people on the earth.

¹¹ But after the three and a half days, life came into them. They stood on their feet. And all those who saw them were very much afraid.

¹² Then they heard a loud voice from the sky saying to them, `Come up here!' They went up into the sky in a cloud. And the men who hated them saw them go up.

¹³ At that time, the earth shook very much. A tenth part of the city fell down. Seven thousand people were killed by the shaking of the earth. The other people were very much afraid and they give glory to God in heaven.

¹⁴ The second trouble is gone. The third trouble is coming soon.

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. Loud voices were heard in the sky. They said, `The kingdom of the world now belongs to our Lord and to his Christ. He will rule for ever and ever.'

¹⁶ Then the twenty-four leaders who sat on their thrones in front of God kneeled down and worshipped God.

¹⁷ They said, `We thank you, Lord God, who has all power. You live now and you always have lived. We thank you because you have now used your power and started to rule.

¹⁸ `The people who did not believe you became angry. But now you are angry. It is time for dead people to be judged. And it is time to reward your servants, the prophets of God, and your holy people and all who respect your name - those who are great and those who are not so great. It is time to destroy those who destroy the earth.'

¹⁹ Then the temple of God in heaven was opened. The box where his agreement was kept was seen inside the temple. And there was lightning, loud noises, and thunder. The earth shook and much rain, like stones, fell.