God's New Bible

The Revelation of St. John the Divine

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

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- Chapter 9 -

1
Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.
2
The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.
3
And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.
4
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
5
The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.
6
In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.
7
And the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold on their heads, and faces like the faces of men.
8
They had hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions.
9
They also had thoraxes like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.
10
They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months.
11
They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon,(a) and in Greek it is Apollyon.(b)
12
The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still to follow.

The Sixth Trumpet

13
Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God
14
saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
15
So the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.
16
And the number of mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.
17
Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur.
18
A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that proceeded from their mouths.
19
For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; indeed, their tails were like snakes, having heads with which to inflict harm.
20
Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
21
Furthermore, they did not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft.

Footnotes

(a)9:11 Abaddon means Destruction.
(b)9:11 Apollyon means Destroyer.
1
The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him.
2
He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a (a) burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit.
3
Then out of the smoke came locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4
They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads.
5
They were given power, not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a person.
6
In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7
The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like golden crowns, and their faces were like people’s faces.
8
They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like those of lions.
9
They had breastplates like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots and horses rushing to war.
10
They have tails like those of scorpions, with stingers. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months.
11
They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is “Abaddon”,(b) but in Greek, he has the name “Apollyon”.(c)
12
The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.

The Sixth Trumpet

13
The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14
saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!”
15
The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind.
16
The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million.(d) I heard the number of them.
17
Thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
18
By these three plagues, one third of mankind was killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
19
For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads; and with them they harm.
20
The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can’t see, hear, or walk.
21
They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries,(e) their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

Footnotes

(a)9:2 TR adds “great”
(b)9:11 “Abaddon” is a Hebrew word that means “ruin”, “destruction”, or “the place of destruction”
(c)9:11 “Apollyon” means “Destroyer”.
(d)9:16 literally, “ten thousands of ten thousands”
(e)9:21 The word for “sorceries” (pharmakeia) also implies the use of potions, poisons, and drugs
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