Obadiah 1; Revelation 9

1 This is the vision about Edom that Obadiah had. Here is what he said. We've heard a message from the LORD and King. A messenger was sent to the nations. The LORD told him to say, "Get up! Let us go and make war against Edom."

2 The LORD says to Edom, "I will make you weak among the nations. They will look down on you.

3 You live in the safety of the rocks. You make your home high up in the mountains. But your proud heart has tricked you. So you say to yourself, 'No one can bring me down to the ground.'

4 You have built your home as high as an eagle does. You have made your nest among the stars. But I will bring you down from there," announces the Lord.

5 "Edom, suppose robbers came to you at night. They would steal only as much as they wanted. Suppose grape pickers came to harvest your vines. They would still leave a few grapes. But you are facing horrible trouble!

6 People of Esau, everything will be taken away from you. Your hidden treasures will be stolen.

7 All those who are helping you will force you to leave your country. Your friends will trick you and overpower you. Those who eat bread with you will set a trap for you. But you will not see it."

8 The LORD announces, "At that time I will destroy the wise men of Edom. I will wipe out the men of understanding in the mountains of Esau.

9 People of Teman, your soldiers will be terrified. Everyone in Esau's mountains will be cut down with swords.

10 You did harmful things to your brothers, the people of Jacob. So you will be covered with shame. You will be destroyed forever.

11 Strangers entered the gates of Jerusalem. They cast lots to see what each one would get. They carried off its wealth. When that happened, you just stood there and did nothing. You were like one of them.

12 That was a time of trouble for your brothers. So you should not have looked down on them. The people of Judah were destroyed. So you should not have been happy about it. You should not have laughed at them so much when they were in trouble.

13 You should not have marched through the gates of my people's city when they were having so much trouble. You should not have looked down on them. You should not have stolen their wealth.

14 You waited where the roads cross. You wanted to cut down those who were running away. You should not have done that. You handed over to their enemies those who were still left alive. You should not have done that. They were in trouble.

15 "The day of the LORD is near for all of the nations. Others will do to you what you have done to them. You will be paid back for what you have done.

16 You Edomites polluted my holy mountain of Zion by drinking and celebrating there. So all of the nations will drink from the cup of my anger. And they will keep on drinking from it. They will vanish. It will be as if they had never existed.

17 But on Mount Zion some of my people will be left alive. I will save them. Zion will be my holy mountain once again. And the people of Jacob will again receive the land as their own.

18 They will be like a fire. Joseph's people will be like a flame. The nation of Esau will be like straw. Jacob's people will set Edom on fire and burn it up. No one will be left alive among Esau's people." The LORD has spoken.

19 Israelites from the Negev Desert will take over Esau's mountains. Israelites from the western hills will possess Philistia. They'll take over the territories of Ephraim and Samaria. Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin will possess the land of Gilead.

20 Some Israelites were forced to leave their homes. They'll come back to Canaan and possess it all the way to the town of Zarephath. Some people from Jerusalem were taken to the city of Sepharad. They'll return and possess the towns of the Negev Desert.

21 Leaders from Mount Zion will go and rule over the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.

1 The fifth angel blew his trumpet. Then I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the tunnel leading down into the Abyss.

2 When the star opened the Abyss, smoke rose up from it like the smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.

3 Out of the smoke came locusts. They settled down on the earth. They were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.

4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree. They were supposed to harm only the people who didn't have God's seal on their foreheads.

5 They were not allowed to kill them. But they could hurt them over and over for five months. The pain the people suffered was like the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man.

6 In those days, people will look for a way to die but won't find it. They will want to die, but death will escape them.

7 The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces.

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

9 Their chests were covered with something that looked like armor made out of iron. The sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.

10 They had tails and stings like scorpions. And in their tails they had power to hurt people over and over for five months.

11 Their king was the angel of the Abyss. In the Hebrew language his name is Abaddon. In Greek it is Apollyon.

12 The first terrible judgment is past. Two others are still coming.

13 The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the corners of the golden altar that stands in front of God.

14 The voice spoke to the sixth angel who had the trumpet. It said, "Set the four angels free who are held at the great river Euphrates."

15 The four angels had been ready for this very hour and day and month and year. They were set free to kill a third of all people.

16 The number of troops on horseback was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were.

17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision had armor on their chests. It was flaming red, dark blue, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like lions' heads. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur.

18 A third of all people were killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of the horses' mouths.

19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. The tails were like snakes whose heads could bite.

20 The people who were not killed by these plagues still did not turn away from what they had been doing. They did not stop worshiping demons. They kept worshiping statues of gods made out of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, which can't see or hear or walk.

21 The people also did not turn away from their murders, witchcraft, sexual sins and stealing.