Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

The Lamb Takes the Scroll That Has Seven Seals

5 I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who sits on the throne. It had writing both on the inside and on the outside. It was sealed with seven seals. ² I saw a powerful angel calling out in a loud voice, “Who deserves to open the scroll and break the seals on it?” ³ No one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth could open the scroll or look inside it. ⁴ I cried bitterly because no one was found who deserved to open the scroll or look inside it.

⁵ Then one of the leaders said to me, “Stop crying! The Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has won the victory. He can open the scroll and the seven seals on it.”

⁶ I saw a lamb standing in the center near the throne with the four living creatures and the leaders. The lamb looked like he had been slaughtered. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent all over the world. ⁷ He took the scroll from the right hand of the one who sits on the throne.

⁸ When the lamb had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 leaders bowed in front of him. Each held a harp and a gold bowl full of incense, the prayers of God’s holy people. ⁹ Then they sang a new song,

¹¹ Then I heard the voices of many angels, the four living creatures, and the leaders surrounding the throne. They numbered ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands times thousands. ¹² In a loud voice they were singing,

¹³ I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and on the sea. Every creature in those places was singing,

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the leaders bowed and worshiped.

The Lamb Opens the First Six Seals

6 I watched as the lamb opened the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Go!” ² Then I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown and rode off as a warrior to win battles.

³ When the lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Go!” ⁴ A second horse went out. It was fiery red. Its rider was given the power to take peace away from the earth and to make people slaughter one another. So he was given a large sword.

⁵ When the lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Go!” I looked, and there was a black horse, and its rider held a scale. ⁶ I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s pay or three quarts of barley for a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine.”

⁷ When the lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Go!” ⁸ I looked, and there was a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. Hell followed him. They were given power over one-fourth of the earth to kill people using wars, famines, plagues, and the wild animals on the earth.

⁹ When the lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had given about him. ¹⁰ They cried out in a loud voice, “Holy and true Master, how long before you judge and take revenge on those living on earth who shed our blood?” ¹¹ Each of the souls was given a white robe. They were told to rest a little longer until all their coworkers, the other Christians, would be killed as they had been killed.

¹² I watched as the lamb opened the sixth seal. A powerful earthquake struck. The sun turned as black as sackcloth made of hair. The full moon turned as red as blood. ¹³ The stars fell from the sky to the earth like figs dropping from a fig tree when it is shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴ The sky vanished like a scroll being rolled up. Every mountain and island was moved from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and all the slaves and free people hid themselves in caves and among the rocks in the mountains. ¹⁶ They said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the lamb, ¹⁷ because the frightening day of their anger has come, and who is able to endure it?”