Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet. And I saw a star fall from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the deep hole that leads down to the bottomless pit. ² Then it opened the bottomless pit. Smoke came up from the hole like smoke from a big furnace. The sun and sky became dark because of the smoke from the hole. ³ Then locusts came down to the earth out of the smoke. They were given the power to sting like scorpions.^{[a] 4} They were told not to harm the grass on the earth or any plant or tree. They could harm only the people who did not have the sign of God on their foreheads. ⁵ These locusts were given the power to cause pain to the people for five months. But they were not given the power to kill anyone. And the pain they felt was like the pain that a scorpion gives when it stings a person. ⁶ During those days people will look for a way to die, but they will not find it. They will want to die, but death will run away from them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore things that looked like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces. ⁸ Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ Their chests looked like iron breastplates. The sound their wings made was like the noise of many horses and chariots hurrying into battle. ¹⁰ The locusts had tails with stingers like scorpions. The power they had to hurt people for five months was in their tails. ¹¹ The locusts had a king who was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon. In the Greek language his name is Apollyon.^[b]

¹² The first great trouble is past. There are still two other great troubles that will come.

¹³ The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the horns on the golden altar that is before God. ¹⁴ The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are tied at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ These four angels had been kept ready for this hour and day and month and year. They were freed to kill a third of all people on the earth. ¹⁶ I heard how many troops on horses were in their army. There were 200,000,000.

¹⁷ In my vision I saw the horses and their riders. They looked like this: They had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like heads of lions. The horses had fire, smoke, and sulfur coming out of their mouths. ¹⁸ A third of all the people on earth were killed by these three terrible things coming out of the horses’ mouths: the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur. ¹⁹ The horses’ power was in their mouths and also in their tails. Their tails were like snakes that have heads to bite and hurt people.

²⁰ The other people on the earth were not killed by these terrible things. But they still did not change their hearts and turn away from what they had made with their own hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—things that cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ These people did not change their hearts and turn away from murder or evil magic, from their sexual immorality or stealing.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud and had a rainbow around his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like poles of fire. ² The angel was holding a small scroll open in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. ³ He shouted loudly like the roaring of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of seven thunders spoke. ⁴ The seven thunders spoke, and I started to write. But then I heard a voice from heaven. The voice said, “Do not write what the seven thunders said. Keep these things secret.”

⁵ Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶ He made a promise by the power of the One who lives forever and ever. He is the One who made the skies and all that is in them. He made the earth and all that is in it, and he made the sea and all that is in it. The angel said, “There will be no more waiting! ⁷ In the days when the seventh angel is ready to blow his trumpet, God’s secret plan will be finished. This plan is the Good News God told to his servants, the prophets.”

⁸ Then I heard the same voice from heaven again. The voice said to me, “Go and take the open scroll that is in the angel’s hand. This is the angel that is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take the scroll and eat it. It will be sour in your stomach. But in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and I ate it. In my mouth it tasted sweet as honey. But after I ate it, it was sour in my stomach. ¹¹ Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a measuring stick like a rod. I was told, “Go and measure the temple^[c] of God and the altar, and count the number of people worshiping there. ² But do not measure the yard outside the temple. Leave it alone. It has been given to the people who are not Jews. They will walk on the holy city for 42 months. ³ And I will give power to my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days. They will be dressed in rough cloth to show how sad they are.”

⁴ These two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ If anyone tries to hurt the witnesses, fire comes from their mouths and kills their enemies. Anyone who tries to hurt them will die like this. ⁶ These witnesses have the power to stop the sky from raining during the time they are prophesying. They have power to make the waters become blood. They have power to send every kind of trouble to the earth. They can do this as many times as they want.

⁷ When the two witnesses have finished telling their message, the beast will fight against them. This is the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit. He will defeat them and kill them. ⁸ The bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of the great city. This city is named Sodom^[d] and Egypt. These names for the city have a special meaning. It is the city where the Lord was killed. ⁹ Men from every race of people, tribe, language, and nation will look at the bodies of the two witnesses for three and a half days. They will refuse to bury them. ¹⁰ People who live on the earth will be happy because these two are dead. They will have parties and send each other gifts. They will do these things because these two prophets brought much suffering to those who live on the earth.

¹¹ But after three and a half days, God put the breath of life into the two prophets again. They stood on their feet. Everyone who saw them was filled with fear. ¹² Then the two prophets heard a loud voice from heaven say, “Come up here!” And they went up into heaven in a cloud. Their enemies watched them go.

¹³ At that same time there was a great earthquake. A tenth of the city was destroyed. And 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. Those who did not die were very afraid. They gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second great trouble is finished. The third great trouble is coming soon.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵ Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven. The voices said:

¹⁶ Then the 24 elders^[e] bowed down on their faces and worshiped God. These are the elders who sit on their thrones before God. ¹⁷ They said:

¹⁹ Then God’s temple^[f] in heaven was opened. The Ark of the Covenant that holds the agreement that God gave to his people could be seen in his temple. Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.