Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The plagues begin

⁶ Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets got ready to blow them. ⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were thrown down on the earth. A third of the earth was burnt up, a third of the trees were burnt up, and so was every blade of green grass. ⁸ Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, flaming with fire, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, ⁹ a third of all living sea-creatures died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. ¹⁰ Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star, burning like a torch, fell from the sky, falling on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹ The name of the star is Poisonwood: a third of the waters turned to poison, and many people died because of the waters that had become bitter. ¹² Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light would be darkened, with a third of the day losing its light and a third of the night as well. ¹³ Then I looked, and I heard a lone eagle flying in mid-heaven, and calling out loudly. “Woe, woe, woe to the earth-dwellers,” it called, “because of the sound of the other trumpets that the last three angels are going to blow!”

Locust attack

9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet. I saw a star falling from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the shaft which leads down to the Abyss. ² The shaft of the Abyss was opened, and smoke came out of the pit like the smoke from a great furnace. The sun and the air became dark with the smoke from the pit. ³ Then, out of that smoke, there appeared locusts on the earth, and they were given authority like the authority of scorpions on the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass on the earth, nor any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were given instructions not to kill them, but to torture them for five months, and their torture was like the torture inflicted by the sting of a scorpion. ⁶ In those days people will look for death, and won’t find it. They will long to die, and death will run away from them.

⁷ In appearance, the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what seemed to be crowns of gold on their heads, and their faces were like human faces. ⁸ They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ They had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. ¹⁰ They have tails like scorpions’ tails, and stings as well, and their tails have the power to harm people for five months. ¹¹ They have as their king the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and whose name in Greek is Apollyon.

¹² The first Woe has come and gone. The next two Woes are on the way after this.