Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

The Scroll with Seven Seals and the Lamb

5 And I saw in the right hand of the one who is seated on the throne a scroll, written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. ² And I saw a powerful angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?” ³ And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁴ And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. ⁵ And one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

⁶ And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as though slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. ⁷ And he came and took the scroll^[a] from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. ⁸ And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one of whom had a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they were singing a new song, saying,

¹¹ And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and of the living creatures and of the elders, and their number was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands times thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice,

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

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

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^[d] 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^[e], 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^[f] fell to the earth like a fig tree throws down its unripe figs when^[g] 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?”