Study Desk

Then I saw^[a] the Lamb open one of the seven^[b] seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"^[c][d]

I looked, and there was a white horse.^(a) The horseman on it had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a victor to conquer.^[e]

When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"^[f][g]

Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its horseman was empowered^[h] to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him.^(b)

When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!"^[i][j] And I looked, and there was a black horse. The horseman on it had a set of scales in his hand.

Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius—but do not harm the olive oil and the wine."

When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"^[k][l]

And I looked, and there was a pale green^[m] horse. The horseman on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. Authority was given to them^[n](c) over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the people^[o] slaughtered because of God's word and the testimony they had.^[p](d)

They cried out with a loud voice: "Lord,^[q] the One who is holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?"

So a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been.

Then I saw Him open^[r] the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth^(e) made of goat hair; the entire moon^[s] became like blood;

the stars^[t] of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind;

the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.^(f)

And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us^(g) from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,

because the great day of Their^[u] wrath has come! And who is able to stand?"^(h)

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,^(a) restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

Then I saw another angel, who had the seal of the living God rise up from the east. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were empowered^[a] to harm the earth and the sea:

"Don't harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God on their foreheads."

And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:

12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah, 12,000^[b] from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,

12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands.

And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God,

saying: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

Then one of the elders asked me, "Who are these people robed in white, and where did they come from?"

I said to him, "Sir,^[c] you know." Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white^(b) in the blood of the Lamb.

For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary. The One seated on the throne will shelter^[d] them:

They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any heat.^(c)

For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them;^(d) He will guide them to springs of living waters,^(e) and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.^(f)

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them.

Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne.

The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel's hand.

The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were rumblings of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

The first angel^[a] blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea.^(a) So a third of the sea became blood,

a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven.^(b) It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water.

The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter.

The fourth angel blew his trumpet, 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 was without light, and the night as well.^(c)

I looked again and heard an eagle^[b] flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, "Woe!^(d) Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!"

The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth.^(a) The key to the shaft of the abyss^(b) was given to him.

He opened the shaft of the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great^[a] furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft.

Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth, and power^[b] was given to them^(c) like the power that scorpions have on the earth.

They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only people who do not have God's seal on their foreheads.

They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it strikes a man.

In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them.

The appearance of the locusts was like horses equipped for battle.^(d) Something like gold crowns was on their heads; their faces were like men's faces;

they had hair like women's hair; their teeth were like lions' teeth;^(e)

they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle;

and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power^[c] to harm people for five months.

They had as their king^[d] the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon,^[e] and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.^[f]

The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this.

The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four^[g] horns of the gold altar^(f) that is before God, I heard a voice

say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates."

So the four angels who were prepared for the hour, day, month, and year were released to kill a third of the human race.

The number of mounted troops was 200 million;^[h] I heard their number.

This is how I saw the horses in my vision: The horsemen had breastplates that were fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and from their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.

A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues—by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths.

For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails, which resemble snakes, have heads, and they inflict injury with them.

The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons^(g) and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which are not able to see, hear, or walk.^(h)

And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries,^[i] their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

Then I saw another mighty angel^(a) coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow^(b) over his head.^[a] His face was like the sun, his legs^[b] were like fiery pillars,^(c)

and he had a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land,

and he cried out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders spoke with their voices.

And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. Then I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Seal up what the seven thunders said,^(d) and do not write it down!"

Then the angel that I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven.

He swore an oath by the One who lives forever and ever,^(e) who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: "There will no longer be an interval of time,^[c]

but in the days of the sound of the seventh angel,^(f) when he will blow his trumpet, then God's hidden plan^(g) will be completed, as He announced to His servants^[d] the prophets."^(h)

Now the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."⁽ⁱ⁾

Then I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter.^(j)

And I was told,^[e] "You must prophesy again about^[f] many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."^(k)

Then I was given a measuring reed^(a) like a rod,^[a] with these words: "Go^[b] and measure God's sanctuary and the altar, and count those who worship there.

But exclude the courtyard outside the sanctuary. Don't measure it, because it is given to the nations,^[c] and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.

I will empower^[d] my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days,^[e](b) dressed in sackcloth."^[f]

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord^[g] of the earth.^(c)

If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies;^(d) if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.

These men have the power to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy.^(e) They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood^(f) and to strike the earth with every plague whenever they want.

When they finish their testimony, the beast^[h](g) that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, conquer them, and kill them.

Their dead bodies^[i](h) will lie in the public square^[j] of the great city, which prophetically^[k] is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

And representatives from^[l] the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations⁽ⁱ⁾ will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb.

Those who live on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another because these two prophets brought judgment to those who live on the earth.

But after 3½ days, the breath^[m] of life^(j) from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. So great fear fell on those who saw them.

Then they heard^[n] a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.^(k)

At that moment a violent earthquake took place,^(l) a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

The second woe^(m) has passed. Take note: The third woe is coming quickly!

The seventh angel blew his trumpet,⁽ⁿ⁾ and there were loud voices in heaven saying: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He will reign forever and ever!^(o)

The 24 elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God,

saying: We thank You, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was,^[o](p) because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.^(q)

The nations were angry,^(r) but Your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets,^(s) to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great,^(t) and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.

God's sanctuary in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant^[p] appeared in His sanctuary. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings of thunder,^(u) an earthquake,^[q] and severe hail.