Revelation 5-9

New King James Version

The Lamb Takes the Scroll

5 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne ^(A)a scroll written inside and on the back, ^(B)sealed with seven seals. ²Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ^(C)“Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” ³And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.

⁴So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open ^[a]and read the scroll, or to look at it. ⁵But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, ^(D)the Lion of the tribe of ^(E)Judah, ^(F)the Root of David, has ^(G)prevailed to open the scroll ^(H)and ^[b]to loose its seven seals.”

⁶And I looked, ^[c]and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood ^(I)a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and ^(J)seven eyes, which are ^(K)the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand ^(L)of Him who sat on the throne.

Worthy Is the Lamb

⁸Now when He had taken the scroll, ^(M)the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the ^(N)prayers of the saints. ⁹And ^(O)they sang a new song, saying:

^(P)“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And ^(Q)have redeemed us to God ^(R)by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
¹⁰And have made ^[d]us ^(S)kings^[e] and ^(T)priests to our God;
And ^[f]we shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, ¹²saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

¹³And ^(U)every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:

^(V)“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him ^(W)who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ^[g]ever!”

¹⁴Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the ^[h]twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped ^[i]Him who lives forever and ever.

First Seal: The Conqueror

6 Now ^(X)I saw when the Lamb opened one of the ^[j]seals; and I heard ^(Y)one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” ²And I looked, and behold, ^(Z)a white horse. ^(AA)He who sat on it had a bow; ^(AB)and a crown was given to him, and he went out ^(AC)conquering and to conquer.

Second Seal: Conflict on Earth

³When He opened the second seal, ^(AD)I heard the second living creature saying, “Come ^[k]and see.” ⁴^(AE)Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to ^(AF)take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.

Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth

⁵When He opened the third seal, ^(AG)I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, ^(AH)a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of ^(AI)scales^[l] in his hand. ⁶And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A ^[m]quart of wheat for a ^[n]denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and ^(AJ)do not harm the oil and the wine.”

Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth

⁷When He opened the fourth seal, ^(AK)I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” ⁸^(AL)So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And ^[o]power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, ^(AM)to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, ^(AN)and by the beasts of the earth.

Fifth Seal: The Cry of the Martyrs

⁹When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under ^(AO)the altar ^(AP)the souls of those who had been slain ^(AQ)for the word of God and for ^(AR)the testimony which they held. ¹⁰And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ^(AS)“How long, O Lord, ^(AT)holy and true, ^(AU)until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹Then a ^(AV)white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them ^(AW)that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

Sixth Seal: Cosmic Disturbances

¹²I looked when He opened the sixth seal, ^(AX)and ^[p]behold, there was a great earthquake; and ^(AY)the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the ^[q]moon became like blood. ¹³^(AZ)And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. ¹⁴^(BA)Then the sky ^[r]receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and ^(BB)every mountain and island was moved out of its place. ¹⁵And the ^(BC)kings of the earth, the great men, ^[s]the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, ^(BD)hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶^(BE)and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who ^(BF)sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! ¹⁷For the great day of His wrath has come, ^(BG)and who is able to stand?”

The Sealed of Israel

7 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, ^(BH)holding the four winds of the earth, ^(BI)that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. ²Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³saying, ^(BJ)“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God ^(BK)on their foreheads.” ⁴^(BL)And I heard the number of those who were sealed. ^(BM)One hundred and forty-four thousand ^(BN)of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

⁵of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were ^[t]sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
⁶of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
⁷of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
⁸of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

⁹After these things I looked, and behold, ^(BO)a great multitude which no one could number, ^(BP)of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, ^(BQ)clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ^(BR)“Salvation belongs to our God ^(BS)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹^(BT)All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and ^(BU)worshiped God, ¹²^(BV)saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”

¹³Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in ^(BW)white robes, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴And I said to him, ^[u]“Sir, you know.”

So he said to me, ^(BX)“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and ^(BY)washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will ^(BZ)dwell among them. ¹⁶^(CA)They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; ^(CB)the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; ¹⁷for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne ^(CC)will shepherd them and lead them to ^[v]living fountains of waters. ^(CD)And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets

8 When^(CE) He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ²^(CF)And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, ^(CG)and to them were given seven trumpets. ³Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with ^(CH)the prayers of all the saints upon ^(CI)the golden altar which was before the throne. ⁴And ^(CJ)the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And ^(CK)there were noises, thunderings, ^(CL)lightnings, ^(CM)and an earthquake.

⁶So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck

⁷The first angel sounded: ^(CN)And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown ^(CO)to the ^[w]earth. And a third ^(CP)of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck

⁸Then the second angel sounded: ^(CQ)And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, ^(CR)and a third of the sea ^(CS)became blood. ⁹^(CT)And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck

¹⁰Then the third angel sounded: ^(CU)And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, ^(CV)and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹^(CW)The name of the star is Wormwood. ^(CX)A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck

¹²^(CY)Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day ^[x]did not shine, and likewise the night.

¹³And I looked, ^(CZ)and I heard an ^[y]angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, ^(DA)“Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit

9 Then the fifth angel sounded: ^(DB)And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to ^(DC)the ^[z]bottomless pit. ²And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the ^(DD)sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. ³Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, ^(DE)as the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴They were commanded ^(DF)not to harm ^(DG)the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have ^(DH)the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵And ^[aa]they were not given authority to kill them, ^(DI)but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. ⁶In those days ^(DJ)men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

⁷^(DK)The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. ^(DL)On their heads were crowns of something like gold, ^(DM)and their faces were like the faces of men. ⁸They had hair like women’s hair, and ^(DN)their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was ^(DO)like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. ¹⁰They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. ¹¹And they had as king over them ^(DP)the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is ^[ab]Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name ^[ac]Apollyon.

¹²^(DQ)One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates

¹³Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the ^(DR)golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound ^(DS)at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a ^(DT)third of mankind. ¹⁶Now ^(DU)the number of the army ^(DV)of the horsemen was two hundred million; ^(DW)I heard the number of them. ¹⁷And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; ^(DX)and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. ¹⁸By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. ¹⁹For ^[ad]their power is in their mouth and in their tails; ^(DY)for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.

²⁰But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, ^(DZ)did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship ^(EA)demons, ^(EB)and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. ²¹And they did not repent of their murders ^(EC)or their ^[ae]sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.