16 And I heard a mighty voice shouting from the temple to the seven angels, “Now go your ways and empty out the seven flasks of the wrath of God upon the earth.”
2 So the first angel left the temple and poured out his flask over the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the Creature and was worshiping his statue.
3 The second angel poured out his flask upon the oceans, and they became like the watery blood of a dead man; and everything in all the oceans died.
4 The third angel poured out his flask upon the rivers and springs and they became blood. 5 And I heard this angel of the waters declaring, “You are just in sending this judgment, O Holy One, who is and was, 6 for your saints and prophets have been martyred and their blood poured out upon the earth; and now, in turn, you have poured out the blood of those who murdered them; it is their just reward.”
7 And I heard the angel of the altar say,[a] “Yes, Lord God Almighty, your punishments are just and true.”
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his flask upon the sun, causing it to scorch all men with its fire. 9 Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God who sent the plagues—they did not change their mind and attitude to give him glory.
10 Then the fifth angel poured out his flask upon the throne of the Creature from the sea,[b] and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. And his subjects gnawed their tongues in anguish, 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores, but they refused to repent of all their evil deeds.
12 The sixth angel poured out his flask upon the great River Euphrates and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies westward without hindrance. 13 And I saw three evil spirits disguised as frogs leap from the mouth of the Dragon, the Creature, and his False Prophet.[c] 14 These miracle-working demons conferred with all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great coming Judgment Day of God Almighty.
15 “Take note: I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are awaiting me, who keep their robes in readiness and will not need to walk naked and ashamed.”
16 And they gathered all the armies of the world near a place called, in Hebrew, Armageddon—the Mountain of Megiddo.
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his flask into the air; and a mighty shout came from the throne of the temple in heaven, saying, “It is finished!”[d] 18 Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed; and there was a great earthquake of a magnitude unprecedented in human history. 19 The great city of “Babylon” split into three sections, and cities around the world fell in heaps of rubble; and so all of “Babylon’s” sins were remembered in God’s thoughts, and she was punished to the last drop of anger in the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And islands vanished, and mountains flattened out, 21 and there was an incredible hailstorm from heaven; hailstones weighing a hundred pounds fell from the sky onto the people below, and they cursed God because of the terrible hail.
Footnotes
- Revelation 16:7 I heard the angel of the altar say, literally, “I heard the altar cry.”
- Revelation 16:10 from the sea, implied.
- Revelation 16:13 his False Prophet, described in 13:11-15 and 19:20.
- Revelation 16:17 It is finished, literally, “It has happened.” An epoch of human history has come to an end.