Revelation 9; Revelation 10; Revelation 11; Revelation 12

1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fall from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the deep hole that leads to the bottomless pit.

2 Then it opened up the hole that leads to the bottomless pit, and smoke came up from the hole like smoke from a big furnace. Then the sun and sky became dark because of the smoke from the hole.

3 Then locusts came down to the earth out of the smoke, and they were given the power to sting like scorpions.

4 They were told not to harm the grass on the earth or any plant or tree. They could harm only the people who did not have the sign of God on their foreheads.

5 These locusts were not given the power to kill anyone, but to cause pain to the people for five months. And the pain they felt was like the pain a scorpion gives when it stings someone.

6 During those days people will look for a way to die, but they will not find it. They will want to die, but death will run away from them.

7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore what looked like crowns of gold, and their faces looked like human faces.

8 Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth.

9 Their chests looked like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horses and chariots hurrying into battle.

10 The locusts had tails with stingers like scorpions, and in their tails was their power to hurt people for five months.

11 The locusts had a king who was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon and in the Greek language is Apollyon.

12 The first trouble is past; there are still two other troubles that will come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns on the golden altar that is before God.

14 The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Free the four angels who are tied at the great river Euphrates."

15 And they let loose the four angels who had been kept ready for this hour and day and month and year so they could kill a third of all people on the earth.

16 I heard how many troops on horses were in their army -- two hundred million.

17 The horses and their riders I saw in the vision looked like this: They had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like heads of lions, with fire, smoke, and sulfur coming out of their mouths.

18 A third of all the people on earth were killed by these three terrible disasters coming out of the horses' mouths: the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur.

19 The horses' power was in their mouths and in their tails; their tails were like snakes with heads, and with them they hurt people.

20 The other people who were not killed by these terrible disasters still did not change their hearts and turn away from what they had made with their own hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood -- things that cannot see or hear or walk.

21 These people did not change their hearts and turn away from murder or evil magic, from their sexual sins or stealing.

1 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down from heaven dressed in a cloud with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like pillars of fire.

2 The angel was holding a small scroll open in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.

3 Then he shouted loudly like the roaring of a lion. And when he shouted, the voices of seven thunders spoke.

4 When the seven thunders spoke, I started to write. But I heard a voice from heaven say, "Keep hidden what the seven thunders said, and do not write them down."

5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven,

6 and he made a promise by the power of the One who lives forever and ever. He is the One who made the skies and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it. The angel promised, "There will be no more waiting!

7 In the days when the seventh angel is ready to blow his trumpet, God's secret will be finished. This secret is the Good News God told to his servants, the prophets."

8 Then I heard the same voice from heaven again, saying to me: "Go and take the open scroll that is in the hand of the angel that is standing on the sea and on the land."

9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. And he said to me, "Take the scroll and eat it. It will be sour in your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey."

10 So I took the small scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. In my mouth it tasted sweet as honey, but after I ate it, it was sour in my stomach.

11 Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."

1 I was given a measuring stick like a rod, and I was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the people worshiping there.

2 But do not measure the yard outside the temple. Leave it alone, because it has been given to those who are not God's people. And they will trample on the holy city for forty-two months.

3 And I will give power to my two witnesses to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, and they will be dressed in rough cloth to show their sadness."

4 These two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

5 And if anyone tries to hurt them, fire comes from their mouths and kills their enemies. And if anyone tries to hurt them in whatever way, in that same way that person will die.

6 These witnesses have the power to stop the sky from raining during the time they are prophesying. And they have power to make the waters become blood, and they have power to send every kind of trouble to the earth as many times as they want.

7 When the two witnesses have finished telling their message, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will fight a war against them. He will defeat them and kill them.

8 The bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of the great city where the Lord was killed. This city is named Sodomn and Egypt, which has a spiritual meaning.

9 Those from every race of people, tribe, language, and nation will look at the bodies of the two witnesses for three and one-half days, and they will refuse to bury them.

10 People who live on the earth will rejoice and be happy because these two are dead. They will send each other gifts, because these two prophets brought much suffering to those who live on the earth.

11 But after three and one-half days, God put the breath of life into the two prophets again. They stood on their feet, and everyone who saw them became very afraid.

12 Then the two prophets heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Come up here!" And they went up into heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.

13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city was destroyed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and those who did not die were very afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second trouble is finished. Pay attention: The third trouble is coming soon.

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying: "The power to rule the world now belongs to our Lord and his Christ, and he will rule forever and ever."

16 Then the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, bowed down on their faces and worshiped God.

17 They said: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, because you have used your great power and have begun to rule!

18 The people of the world were angry, but your anger has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward your servants the prophets and your holy people, all who respect you, great and small. The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!"

19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened. The Ark that holds the agreement God gave to his people could be seen in his temple. Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.

1 And then a great wonder appeared in heaven: A woman was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars was on her head.

2 She was pregnant and cried out with pain, because she was about to give birth.

3 Then another wonder appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon with seven heads and seven crowns on each head. He also had ten horns.

4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth so he could eat her baby as soon as it was born.

5 Then the woman gave birth to a son who will rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was taken up to God and to his throne.

6 The woman ran away into the desert to a place God prepared for her where she would be taken care of for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

7 Then there was a war in heaven. Michaeln and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

8 But the dragon was not strong enough, and he and his angels lost their place in heaven.

9 The giant dragon was thrown down out of heaven. (He is that old snake called the devil or Satan, who tricks the whole world.) The dragon with his angels was thrown down to the earth.

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: "The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have now come. The accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accused them day and night before our God, has been thrown down.

11 And our brothers and sisters defeated him by the blood of the Lamb's death and by the message they preached. They did not love their lives so much that they were afraid of death.

12 So rejoice, you heavens and all who live there! But it will be terrible for the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you! He is filled with anger, because he knows he does not have much time."

13 When the dragon saw he had been thrown down to the earth, he hunted for the woman who had given birth to the son.

14 But the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the desert. There she would be taken care of for three and one-half years, away from the snake.

15 Then the snake poured water out of its mouth like a river toward the woman so the flood would carry her away.

16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that came from the mouth of the dragon.

17 Then the dragon was very angry at the woman, and he went off to make war against all her other children -- those who obey God's commands and who have the message Jesus taught.

18 And the dragon stood on the seashore.