Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A Scroll with Seven Seals

5 And I saw in the right hand of the One seated upon the throne a scroll, written on both the front and the back, sealed with seven seals. ^{[a] 2} I also saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?” ³ No one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁴ I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

⁵ Then one of the elders tells me, “Stop weeping! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,^[b] the Root of David,^[c] has triumphed—He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Worshiping the Lamb

⁶ And in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as having been slain—having seven horns and seven eyes,^[d] which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne. ⁸ When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense—which are the prayers of the kedoshim.

⁹ And they are singing a new song,^[e] saying,

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders—their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. ^{[g] 12} They were chanting with a loud voice,

¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and everything in them, responding,

¹⁴ And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

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!” ^{[h] 2} I looked, and behold, there was a white horse.^[i] 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.^[j] 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^[k] of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius—but do no harm to the oil and wine!”^[l]

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.^[m]

⁹ When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered^[n] 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. ^{[o] 16} And they tell the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us^[p] 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,^[q] and who is able to stand?”