The Fifth Trumpet. The First Woe
9 And the fifth angel trumpeted, and I saw a star from heaven having fallen to the earth. And the key of the shaft of the abyss was given to him. 2 And he opened the shaft of the abyss. And smoke went-up from the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air was darkened by the smoke of the shaft. 3 And locusts came out of the smoke to the earth. And authority was given to them as the scorpions of the earth have authority. 4 And it was told to them that they shall not harm the grass of the land, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And authority was given to them so that they might not kill them, but so that they will be tormented for five months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a person. 6 And during those days the people will seek death, and will by no means find it; and they will desire to die, and death flees from them. 7 And the likenesses[a] of the locusts were like horses having been prepared for battle. And on their heads were something like crowns resembling gold. And their faces were like faces of people[b]. 8 And they had hair like the hair of women[c]. And their teeth were like ones of lions. 9 And they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses running into battle. 10 And they have tails like scorpions, and stingers. And their authority to harm people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have a king over them: the angel of the abyss. The name for him in Hebrew is Abaddon[d]. And in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
12 The first woe passed-away. Behold— two woes are still coming after these things.
The Sixth Trumpet. The Second Woe
13 And the sixth angel trumpeted.
Four Angels Are Released To Kill a Third of Mankind
And I heard one voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God 14 saying to the sixth angel, the one having the trumpet, “Release the four angels having been bound at the great river Euphrates”. 15 And the four angels were released, the ones having been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, in order that they might kill a third of mankind. 16 And the number of the troops of cavalry was two hundred million. I heard the number of them. 17 And I saw the horses and the ones sitting on them in the vision as follows— having[e] breastplates [the color] of-fire and of-hyacinth[f] and of-sulphur. And the heads of the horses are like heads of lions. And fire and smoke and sulphur is coming-out of their mouths. 18 A third of mankind were killed from these three plagues— by the fire and the smoke and the sulphur coming-out of their mouths. 19 For the authority of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails. For their tails are like snakes, having heads, and with them they do harm. 20 And the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, they did not-even repent from the works of their hands, so-that they will not worship demons and idols— the golden ones and the silver ones and the brass ones and the stone ones and the wooden ones— which are neither able to see, nor to hear, nor to walk. 21 And they did not repent from their murders, nor from their sorcerer’s-potions[g], nor from their sexual-immorality, nor from their thefts.
Footnotes
- Revelation 9:7 likenesses... were like. Or, the resemblances... resembled.
- Revelation 9:7 Or, men (males), humans.
- Revelation 9:8 That is, long hair.
- Revelation 9:11 Abaddon... Apollyon. Both names mean ‘destroyer’.
- Revelation 9:17 This may refer to the rider, the horse, or both.
- Revelation 9:17 This precious stone is dark blue or dark red. Sulphur is yellow. The breastplates may be tri-colored; or, each having one of these colors.
- Revelation 9:21 This word refers to the drugs, charms, and potions used by sorcerers. Some manuscripts instead say ‘sorceries’.