The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 The fifth Angel trumpeted. I saw a Star plummet from Heaven to earth. The Star was handed a key to the Well of the Abyss.
1
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 He unlocked the Well of the Abyss - smoke poured out of the Well, billows and billows of smoke, sun and air in blackout from smoke pouring out of the Well.
2
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 Then out of the smoke crawled locusts with the venom of scorpions.
3
And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 They were given their orders: "Don't hurt the grass, don't hurt anything green, don't hurt a single tree - only men and women, and then only those who lack the seal of God on their foreheads."
4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5 They were ordered to torture but not kill, torture them for five months, the pain like a scorpion sting.
5
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 When this happens, people are going to prefer death to torture, look for ways to kill themselves. But they won't find a way - death will have gone into hiding.
6
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7 The locusts looked like horses ready for war. They had gold crowns, human faces,
7
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 women's hair, the teeth of lions,
8
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 and iron breastplates. The sound of their wings was the sound of horse-drawn chariots charging into battle.
9
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 Their tails were equipped with stings, like scorpion tails. With those tails they were ordered to torture the human race for five months.
10
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
11 They had a king over them, the Angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, in Greek, Apollyon - "Destroyer."
11
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
12 The first doom is past. Two dooms yet to come.
12
One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 The sixth Angel trumpeted. I heard a voice speaking to the sixth Angel from the horns of the Golden Altar before God:
13
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 "Let the Four Angels loose, the Angels confined at the great River Euphrates."
14
Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
15 The Four Angels were untied and let loose, Four Angels all prepared for the exact year, month, day, and even hour when they were to kill a third of the human race.
15
And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
16 The number of the army of horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard the count
16
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
17 and saw both horses and riders in my vision: fiery breastplates on the riders, lion heads on the horses breathing out fire and smoke and brimstone.
17
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
18 With these three weapons - fire and smoke and brimstone - they killed a third of the human race.
18
By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
19 The horses killed with their mouths and tails; their serpentlike tails also had heads that wreaked havoc.
19
For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
20 The remaining men and women who weren't killed by these weapons went on their merry way - didn't change their way of life, didn't quit worshiping demons, didn't quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass, hunks of stone and wood that couldn't see or hear or move.
20
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
21 There wasn't a sign of a change of heart. They plunged right on in their murderous, occult, promiscuous, and thieving ways.
21
Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.