The Lamb Opens the Scroll

6 Then I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living beings speak with a voice like thunder. It said, “Come!” ² I looked, and there before me was a white horse. The rider on the horse held a bow and was given a crown. He rode out to defeat the enemy and win the victory.

³ The Lamb opened the second seal. Then I heard the second living being say, “Come!” ⁴ Then another horse came out, a red one. The rider on the horse was given power to take away peace from the earth so that people would kill each other. He was given a big sword.

⁵ The Lamb opened the third seal. Then I heard the third living being say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse. The rider on the horse held a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ Then I heard something that sounded like a voice. The voice came from where the four living beings were. It said, “A quart^[a] of wheat or three quarts of barley will cost a full day’s pay. But don’t harm the supply of olive oil and wine!”

⁷ The Lamb opened the fourth seal. Then I heard the voice of the fourth living being say, “Come!” ⁸ I looked, and there before me was a pale-colored horse. The rider on the horse was death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth—power to kill people with the sword, by starving, by disease, and with the wild animals of the earth.

⁹ The Lamb opened the fifth seal. Then I saw some souls under the altar. They were the souls of those who had been killed because they were faithful to God’s message and to the truth 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. They were told to wait a short time longer. There were still some of their brothers and sisters in the service of Christ who must be killed as they were. These souls were told to wait until all the killing was finished.

¹² Then I watched while the Lamb opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake, and the sun became as black as sackcloth.^[b] The full moon became red like blood. ¹³ The stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its figs when the wind blows. ¹⁴ The sky was split in the middle and both sides rolled up like a scroll. And every mountain and island was moved from its place.

¹⁵ Then all the people—the kings of the world, the rulers, the army commanders, the rich people, the powerful people, every slave, and every free person—hid themselves in caves and behind the rocks on the mountains. ¹⁶ They said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us. Hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne. Hide us from the anger of the Lamb! ¹⁷ The great day for their anger has come. No one can stand against it.”

The 144,000 People of Israel

7 After this happened I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. The angels were holding the four winds of the earth. They were stopping the wind from blowing on the land or the sea or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel coming from the east. This angel had the seal of the living God. The angel called out in a loud voice to the four angels. These were the four angels that God had given the power to hurt the earth and the sea. The angel said to them, ³ “Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees before we mark the foreheads of those who serve our God.”

⁴ Then I heard how many people had God’s mark on their foreheads. There were 144,000. They were from every tribe of the people of Israel:

The Great Crowd

⁹ Then I looked, and there was a large crowd of people. There were so many people that no one could count them all. They were from every nation, tribe, race of people, and language of the earth. They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They all wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They shouted loudly, “Victory belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

¹¹ The elders and the four living beings were there. All the angels were standing around them and the throne. The angels bowed down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. ¹² They said, “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 in white robes? Where did they come from?”

¹⁴ I answered, “You know who they are, sir.”

And the elder said, “These are the ones who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes^[c] with the blood of the Lamb, and they are clean and white. ¹⁵ So now these people are before the throne of God. They worship God day and night in his temple. And the one who sits on the throne will protect them. ¹⁶ They will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them. ¹⁷ The Lamb in front 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.”

The Seventh Seal

8 The Lamb opened the seventh seal. Then there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ² And I saw the seven angels who stand before God. They were given seven trumpets.

³ Another angel came and stood at the altar. This angel had a golden holder for incense. The angel 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. The smoke went up with the prayers of God’s people. ⁵ Then the angel filled the incense holder with fire from the altar and threw it down on the earth. Then there were flashes of lightning, thunder and other noises, and an earthquake.

The First of Seven Trumpet Blasts

⁶ Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their trumpets.

⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet. Then hail and fire mixed with blood was 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 The second angel blew his trumpet. Then something that looked like a big mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. And a third of the sea became blood. ⁹ And a third of the created beings in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰ The third angel blew his trumpet. Then 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 was Bitterness.^[d] And a third of all the water became bitter. Many people died from drinking this bitter water.

¹² The fourth angel blew his trumpet. Then 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. A third of the day and night was without light.

¹³ While I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air. The eagle said in a loud voice, “Terrible! Terrible! How terrible for those who live on the earth! The terrible trouble will begin after the sounds of the trumpets that the other three angels will blow.”

The Fifth Trumpet Begins the First Terror

9 The fifth angel blew his trumpet. Then 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 the star opened the hole leading to the 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 out of the smoke and went down to the earth. They were given the power to sting like scorpions. ⁴ They were told not to damage the fields of grass or any plant or tree. They were to hurt only those who did not have God’s mark on their foreheads. ⁵ They were not given the power to kill them but only to cause them pain for five months—pain like a person feels when stung by a scorpion. 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 hide from them.

⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something that looked like a gold crown. Their faces looked like human faces. ⁸ Their hair was like women’s hair. 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 give people pain for five months was in their tails. ¹¹ They had a ruler, who was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon.^[e] In Greek it is Apollyon.^[f]

¹² The first terror is now past. There are still two other terrors to come.

The Sixth Trumpet Blast

¹³ The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the horns on the four corners of the golden altar that is before God. ¹⁴ It 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. The angels were set free to kill a third of all the 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 the riders on the horses. 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 plagues 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 earth were not killed by these plagues. But these people still did not change their hearts and turn away from worshiping the things 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 They did not change their hearts and turn away from killing other people or from their evil magic, their sexual sins, and their stealing.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down from heaven. The angel was dressed in a cloud. He had a rainbow around his head. The angel’s face was like the sun, and his legs were like poles of fire. ² The angel was holding a small scroll. The scroll was 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. After 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 that said, “Don’t write what the seven thunders said. Keep those things secret.”

⁵ Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶ The angel 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 completed—the Good News that God told to his servants, the prophets.”

⁸ Then I heard the same voice from heaven again. It said to me, “Go and take the open scroll that is in the angel’s hand. This is the angel who 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 like honey.” ¹⁰ So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. In my mouth it tasted sweet like honey, but after I ate it, it was sour in my stomach. ¹¹ Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many races of people, many nations, languages, and rulers.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a measuring rod as long as a walking stick. I was told, “Go and measure the temple^[g] of God and the altar, and count the people worshiping there. ² But don’t measure the yard outside the temple. Leave it alone. It has been given to those who are not God’s people. They will show their power over the holy city for 42 months. ³ And I will give power to my two witnesses. And they will prophesy for 1260 days. They will be dressed in sackcloth.”

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 the mouths of the witnesses 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. These witnesses have power to make the water become blood. They have power to send every kind of plague 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. It will defeat and kill them. ⁸ The bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of the great city. This city is named Sodom and Egypt. These names for the city have a special meaning. This is the city where the Lord was killed. ⁹ People from every race of people, tribe, language, and nation will look at the bodies of the two witnesses for three and a half days. The people will refuse to bury them. ¹⁰ Everyone on the earth will be happy because these two are dead. They will have parties and send each other gifts. They will do this because these two prophets brought much suffering to the people living on earth.

¹¹ But after three and a half days, God let life enter the two witnesses again. They stood on their feet. All those who saw them were filled with fear. ¹² Then the two witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven say, “Come up here!” And both of them 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 7000 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 terror is now past. The third terror is coming soon.

The Seventh Trumpet Blast

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

¹⁶ Then the 24 elders bowed down on their faces and worshiped God. These are the elders who sit on their thrones before God. ¹⁷ The elders said,

¹⁹ Then God’s temple in heaven was opened. The Box of the Agreement^[h] could be seen in his temple. Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.

The Woman Giving Birth and the Dragon

12 And then a great wonder appeared in heaven: There was a woman who was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet. She had a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out with pain because she was about to give birth.

³ Then another wonder appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon there. The dragon had seven heads with a crown on each head. It also had ten horns. ⁴ Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. It stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth to the baby. It wanted to eat the woman’s baby as soon as it was born.

⁵ The woman gave birth to a son, who would rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was taken up to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman ran away into the desert to a place that God had prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for 1260 days.

⁷ Then there was a war in heaven. Michael^[i] and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, ⁸ but they were not strong enough. The dragon and its angels lost their place in heaven. ⁹ It was thrown down out of heaven. (This giant dragon is that old snake, the one called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world into the wrong way.) The dragon and its angels were thrown to the earth.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, “The victory and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah have now come. These things have come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown out. He is the one who accused them day and night before our God. ¹¹ They defeated him by the blood sacrifice of the Lamb and by the message of God that they told people. They did not love their lives too much. They were not afraid of death. ¹² So rejoice, you heavens and all who live there! But it will be terrible for the earth and sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with anger. He knows he doesn’t have much time.”

¹³ The dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth. So he chased the woman who had given birth to the child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle. Then she could fly to the place that was prepared for her in the desert. There she would be taken care of for three and a half years. There she would be away from the dragon.^{[j] 15} Then the dragon poured water out of its mouth like a river. It poured the water toward the woman so that the flood would carry her away. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that came from the mouth of the dragon. ¹⁷ Then the dragon was very angry with the woman. It went away to make war against all her other children. Her children are those who obey God’s commands and have the truth that Jesus taught.

¹⁸ The dragon stood on the seashore.

The Beast From the Sea

13 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. There was a crown on each of its horns. It had an evil name written on each head. ² This beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear’s feet. It had a mouth like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast all of its power and its throne and great authority.

³ One of the heads of the beast looked as if it had been wounded and killed, but the death wound was healed. All the people in the world were amazed, and they all followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because it had given its power to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast. They asked, “Who is as powerful as the beast? Who can make war against it?”

⁵ The beast was allowed to boast and speak insults against God. It was allowed to use its power for 42 months. ⁶ The beast opened its mouth to insult God—to insult his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. ⁷ It was given power to make war against God’s holy people and to defeat them. It was given power over every tribe, race of people, language, and nation. ⁸ Everyone living on earth would worship the beast. These are all the people since the beginning of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lamb is the one who was killed.

⁹ Anyone who hears these things should listen to this:

This means that God’s holy people must have patience and faith.

The Beast From the Earth

¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he talked like a dragon. ¹² This beast stood before the first beast and used the same power the first beast had. He used this power to make everyone living on the earth worship the first beast. The first beast was the one that had the death wound that was healed. ¹³ The second beast did great miracles.^[k] He even made fire come down from heaven to earth while people were watching.

¹⁴ This second beast fooled the people living on earth by using the miracles that he had been given the power to do for the first beast. He ordered people to make an idol to honor the first beast, the one that was wounded by the sword but did not die. ¹⁵ The second beast was given power to give life to the idol of the first beast. Then the idol could speak and order all those who did not worship it to be killed. ¹⁶ The second beast also forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark put on their right hand or on their forehead. ¹⁷ No one could buy or sell without this mark. (This mark is the name of the beast or the number of its name.)

¹⁸ Anyone who has understanding can find the meaning of the beast’s number. This requires wisdom. This number is the number of a man. It is 666.

God’s People Sing a New Song

14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, who was standing on Mount Zion.^[l] There were 144,000 people with him. They all had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

² And I heard a sound from heaven as loud as the crashing of floodwaters or claps of thunder. But it sounded like harpists playing their harps. ³ The people sang a new song before the throne and before the four living beings and the elders. The only ones who could learn the new song were the 144,000 who had been bought from the earth. No one else could learn it.

⁴ These are the ones who did not do sinful things with women. They kept themselves pure. Now they follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were bought from among the people of the earth as the first to be offered to God and the Lamb. ⁵ They are not guilty of telling lies; they are without fault.

The Three Angels

⁶ Then I saw another angel flying high in the air. The angel had the eternal Good News to announce to the people living on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and race of people. ⁷ The angel said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him praise. The time has come for God to judge all people. Worship God. He made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.”

⁸ Then the second angel followed the first angel and said, “She is destroyed! The great city of Babylon is destroyed! She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual sin and of God’s anger.”

⁹ A third angel followed the first two angels. This third angel said in a loud voice, “God will punish all those who worship the beast and the beast’s idol and agree to have the beast’s mark on their forehead or on their hand. ¹⁰ They will drink the wine of God’s anger. This wine is prepared with all its strength in the cup of God’s anger. They will be tortured with burning sulfur before the holy angels and the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke from their burning pain will rise forever and ever. There will be no rest, day or night, for those who worship the beast and its idol or who wear the mark of its name.” ¹² This means that God’s holy people must be patient. They must obey God’s commands and keep their faith in Jesus.

¹³ Then I heard a voice from heaven. It said, “Write this: From now on there are great blessings for those who belong to the Lord when they die.”

The Spirit says, “Yes, that is true. They will rest from their hard work. What they have done will stay with them.”

The Earth Is Harvested

¹⁴ I looked and there before me, sitting on a white cloud, was one who looked like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ Then another angel came out of the temple. This angel called to the one who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and gather from the earth. The time to harvest has come, and the fruit on the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶ So the one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth. And the earth was harvested.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven. This angel also had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ And then another angel, one with power over the fire, came from the altar. He called to the angel with the sharp sickle and said, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the bunches of grapes from the earth’s vine. The earth’s grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ The angel swung his sickle over the earth. He gathered the earth’s grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s anger. ²⁰ The grapes were squeezed in the winepress outside the city. Blood flowed out of the winepress. It rose as high as the heads of the horses for a distance of 200 miles.^[m]