Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

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.