Revelation 6; Revelation 7; Revelation 8; Revelation 9; Revelation 10; Revelation 11

1 Then I watched while the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"

2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse. The rider on the horse held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out, determined to win the victory.

3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"

4 Then another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take away peace from the earth and to make people kill each other, and he was given a big sword.

5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse, and its rider held a pair of scales in his hand.

6 Then I heard something that sounded like a voice coming from the middle of the four living creatures. The voice said, "A quart of wheat for a day's pay, and three quarts of barley for a day's pay, and do not damage the olive oil and wine!"

7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"

8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named death, and Hadesn was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill people by war, by starvation, by disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.

9 When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been killed because they were faithful to the word of God and to the message they had received.

10 These souls shouted in a loud voice, "Holy and true Lord, how long until you judge the people of the earth and punish them for killing us?"

11 Then each one of them was given a white robe and was told to wait a short time longer. There were still some of their fellow servants and brothers and sistersn in the service of Christ who must be killed as they were. They had to wait until all of this was finished.

12 Then I watched while the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black like rough black cloth, and the whole moon became red like blood.

13 And the stars in the sky fell to the earth like figs falling from a fig tree when the wind blows.

14 The sky disappeared as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

15 Then the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the rich people, the powerful people, the slaves, and the free people hid themselves in caves and in the rocks on the mountains.

16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us. Hide us from the face of the One who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb!

17 The great day for their anger has come, and who can stand against it?" The 144,000 People of Israel

1 After the vision of these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. The angels were holding the four winds of the earth to keep them from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east who had the seal of the living God. And he called out in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given power to harm the earth and the sea.

3 He said to them, "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we mark with a sign the foreheads of the people who serve our God."

4 Then I heard how many people were marked with the sign. There were one hundred forty-four thousand from every tribe of the people of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were marked with the sign, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,

7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,

8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were marked with the sign.

9 After the vision of these things I looked, and there was a great number of people, so many that no one could count them. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language of the earth. They were all standing before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

10 They were shouting in a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures. They all bowed down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

12 saying, "Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!"

13 Then one of the elders asked me, "Who are these people dressed in white robes? Where did they come from?"

14 I answered, "You know, sir." And the elder said to me, "These are the people who have come out of the great distress. They have washed their robesn and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 Because of this, they are before the throne of God. They worship him day and night in his temple. And the One who sits on the throne will be present with them.

16 Those people will never be hungry again, and they will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them, and no heat will burn them,

17 because the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of water that give life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to whom were given seven trumpets.

3 Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden pan for incense. He was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all God's holy people. The angel put this offering on the golden altar before the throne.

4 The smoke from the incense went up from the angel's hand to God with the prayers of God's people.

5 Then the angel filled the incense pan with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were flashes of lightning, thunder and loud noises, and an earthquake.

6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were poured down on the earth. And a third of the earth, and all the green grass, and a third of the trees were burned up.

8 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something that looked like a big mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. And a third of the sea became blood,

9 a third of the living things in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a large star, burning like a torch, fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

11 The name of the star is Wormwood. And a third of all the water became bitter, and many people died from drinking the water that was bitter.

12 Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were struck. So a third of them became dark, and a third of the day was without light, and also the night.

13 While I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air cry out in a loud voice, "Trouble! Trouble! Trouble for those who live on the earth because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets that the other three angels are about to blow!"

1 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 to the bottomless pit.

2 Then it opened up the hole that leads to the bottomless pit, and smoke came up from the hole like smoke from a big furnace. Then 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, and they were given the power to sting like scorpions.

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 not given the power to kill anyone, but to cause pain to the people for five months. And the pain they felt was like the pain a scorpion gives when it stings someone.

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 what looked like crowns of gold, and 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, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horses and chariots hurrying into battle.

10 The locusts had tails with stingers like scorpions, and in their tails was their power to hurt people for five months.

11 The locusts had a king who was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon and in the Greek language is Apollyon.

12 The first trouble is past; there are still two other troubles that will come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and 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 And they let loose the four angels who had been kept ready for this hour and day and month and year so they could kill a third of all people on the earth.

16 I heard how many troops on horses were in their army -- two hundred million.

17 The horses and their riders I saw in the vision 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, with fire, smoke, and sulfur coming out of their mouths.

18 A third of all the people on earth were killed by these three terrible disasters coming out of the horses' mouths: the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur.

19 The horses' power was in their mouths and in their tails; their tails were like snakes with heads, and with them they hurt people.

20 The other people who were not killed by these terrible disasters 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 sins or stealing.

1 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down from heaven dressed in a cloud with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars 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 Then he shouted loudly like the roaring of a lion. And when he shouted, the voices of seven thunders spoke.

4 When the seven thunders spoke, I started to write. But I heard a voice from heaven say, "Keep hidden what the seven thunders said, and do not write them down."

5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven,

6 and 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, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it. The angel promised, "There will be no more waiting!

7 In the days when the seventh angel is ready to blow his trumpet, God's secret will be finished. This secret is the Good News God told to his servants, the prophets."

8 Then I heard the same voice from heaven again, saying to me: "Go and take the open scroll that is in the hand of the angel that is standing on the sea and on the land."

9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. And 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 small scroll from the angel's hand and 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."

1 I was given a measuring stick like a rod, and I was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the people worshiping there.

2 But do not measure the yard outside the temple. Leave it alone, because it has been given to those who are not God's people. And they will trample on the holy city for forty-two months.

3 And I will give power to my two witnesses to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, and they will be dressed in rough cloth to show their sadness."

4 These two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

5 And if anyone tries to hurt them, fire comes from their mouths and kills their enemies. And if anyone tries to hurt them in whatever way, in that same way that person will die.

6 These witnesses have the power to stop the sky from raining during the time they are prophesying. And they have power to make the waters become blood, and they have power to send every kind of trouble to the earth as many times as they want.

7 When the two witnesses have finished telling their message, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will fight a war against them. He will defeat them and kill them.

8 The bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of the great city where the Lord was killed. This city is named Sodomn and Egypt, which has a spiritual meaning.

9 Those from every race of people, tribe, language, and nation will look at the bodies of the two witnesses for three and one-half days, and they will refuse to bury them.

10 People who live on the earth will rejoice and be happy because these two are dead. They will send each other gifts, because these two prophets brought much suffering to those who live on the earth.

11 But after three and one-half days, God put the breath of life into the two prophets again. They stood on their feet, and everyone who saw them became very afraid.

12 Then the two prophets heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Come up here!" And they went up into heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.

13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city was destroyed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and those who did not die were very afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second trouble is finished. Pay attention: The third trouble is coming soon.

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying: "The power to rule the world now belongs to our Lord and his Christ, and he will rule forever and ever."

16 Then the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, bowed down on their faces and worshiped God.

17 They said: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, because you have used your great power and have begun to rule!

18 The people of the world were angry, but your anger has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward your servants the prophets and your holy people, all who respect you, great and small. The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!"

19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened. The Ark that holds the agreement 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.