Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(A special psalm by Asaph.)

What God Has Done for His People

^10 (A) Israel continued to camp at Gilgal in the desert near Jericho, and on the fourteenth day of the same month,^[a] they celebrated Passover.

^11-12 (B) The next day, God stopped sending the Israelites manna^[b] to eat each morning, and they started eating food grown in the land of Canaan. They ate roasted grain^[c] and thin bread^[d] made of the barley they had gathered from nearby fields.

The Trumpets

^6 (A) The seven angels now got ready to blow their trumpets.

^7 (B) When the first angel blew his trumpet, hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. A third of the earth, a third of the trees, and a third of all green plants were burned.

⁸ When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a great fiery mountain was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood, ⁹ a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

^10 (C) When the third angel blew his trumpet, a great star fell from heaven. It was burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on a third of the springs of water. ^11 (D) The name of the star was Bitter, and a third of the water turned bitter. Many people died because the water was so bitter.

^12 (E) When the fourth angel blew his trumpet, a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck. They each lost a third of their light. So during a third of the day there was no light, and a third of the night was also without light.

¹³ Then I looked and saw a lone eagle flying across the sky. It was shouting, “Trouble, trouble, trouble to everyone who lives on earth! The other three angels are now going to blow their trumpets.”

9 When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star^[a] fall from the sky to earth. It was given the key to the tunnel that leads down to the deep pit. ^2 (F) As it opened the tunnel, smoke poured out like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air turned dark because of the smoke. ^3 (G) Locusts^[b] came out of the smoke and covered the earth. They were given the same power that scorpions have.

^4 (H) The locusts were told not to harm the grass on the earth or any plant or any tree. They were to punish only those people who did not have God's mark on their foreheads. ⁵ The locusts were allowed to make them suffer for five months, but not to kill them. The suffering they caused was like the sting of a scorpion. ^6 (I) In those days people will want to die, but they will not be able to. They will hope for death, but it will escape from them.

^7 (J) These locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like gold crowns, and they had human faces. ^8 (K) Their hair was like a woman's long hair, and their teeth were like those of a lion. ^9 (L) On their chests they wore armor made of iron. Their wings roared like an army of horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ Their tails were like a scorpion's tail with a stinger that had the power to hurt someone for five months. ¹¹ Their king was the angel in charge of the deep pit. In Hebrew his name was Abaddon, and in Greek it was Apollyon.^[c]

¹² The first horrible thing has now happened! But wait. Two more horrible things will happen soon.