Revelation Chapter 5
The Lamb Opens the Scroll
"And I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: "Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and unroll it?" But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.
Then I wept because no one could be found who was worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, "Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David's throne, has conquered. He is worthy to open the scroll and break its seven seals."
I looked and I saw a Lamb that had been killed but was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that are sent out into every part of the earth. He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. And as he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense- the prayers of God's people!
And they sang a new song with these words:
"You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it.
Then I looked again, and I heard the singing of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus:
For you were killed, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
And you have caused them to become God's Kingdom and his priests. And they will reign on the earth."
"The Lamb is worthy- the Lamb who was killed. He is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing."
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They also sang:
"Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever."
And the four living beings said, "Amen!" And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped God and the Lamb.
The Lamb Breaks the First Six Seals
When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, "Come!" And I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. And a voice from among the four living beings said, "A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley for a day's pay. And don't waste the olive oil and wine."
And when the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, "Come!" And I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green like a corpse. And Death was the name of its rider, who was followed around by the Grave. They were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.
And when the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their witness. They called loudly to the Lord and said, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge the people who belong to this world for what they have done to us? When will you avenge our blood against these people?" Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters- their fellow servants of Jesus- had been martyred.
I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from trees shaken by mighty winds. And the sky was rolled up like a scroll and taken away. And all of the mountains and all of the islands disappeared.
As I watched, the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll. Then one of the four living beings called out with a voice that sounded like thunder, "Come!" I looked up and saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory.
When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, "Come!" And another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to remove peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere.
Come and join me in death
Then the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy people, the people with great power, and every slave and every free person- all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who will be able to survive?"
Gods People Will Be Preserved
And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God. There were 144,000 who were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:
Praise from the Great Multitude
And I said to him, "Sir, you are the one who knows."
"Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds from blowing upon the earth. Not a leaf rustled in the trees, and the sea became as smooth as glass. And I saw another angel coming from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted out to those four angels who had been given power to injure land and sea, "Wait! Don't hurt the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants."
from Judah . . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Reuben . . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Gad . . . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Asher . . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Naphtali . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Manasseh . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Simeon . . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Levi . . . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Issachar . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Zebulun . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Joseph . . . . . . . . . . 12,000
from Benjamin . . . . . . . . . 12,000
After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a mighty shout, "Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!"
And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell face down before the throne and worshiped God. They said,
"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and forever. Amen!"
Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, "Who are these who are clothed in white? Where do they come from?"
Then he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. That is why they are standing in front of the throne of God, serving him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will live among them and shelter them. They will never again be hungry or thirsty, and they will be fully protected from the scorching noontime heat. For the Lamb who stands in front of the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away all their tears."
The Lamb Breaks the Seventh Seal
The First Four Trumpets
"When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets. Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people, to be offered on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of the saints, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake."
"Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts.
The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down upon the earth, and one-third of the earth was set on fire. One-third of the trees were burned, and all the grass was burned.
Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. And one-third of the water in the sea became blood. And one-third of all things living in the sea died. And one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.
Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great flaming star fell out of the sky, burning like a torch. It fell upon one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star was Bitterness. It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died because the water was so bitter.
Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark and one-third of the night also.
"Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air were darkened by the smoke.
Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. They were told not to hurt the grass or plants or trees but to attack all the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with agony like the pain of scorpion stings. In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee away!
The Fifth Trumpet Brings the First Terror
The locusts looked like horses armed for battle. They had gold crowns on their heads, and they had human faces.
Their hair was long like the hair of a woman, and their teeth were like the teeth of a lion. They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. They had tails that stung like scorpions, with power to torture people. This power was given to them for five months. Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon- the Destroyer.
The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!"
"Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. And the voice spoke to the sixth angel who held the trumpet: "Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River." And the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth. They led an army of 200 million mounted troops- I heard an announcement of how many there were.
And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them.
The Sixth Trumpet Brings the Second Terror
The riders wore armor that was fiery red and sky blue and yellow. The horses' heads were like the heads of lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues- by the fire and the smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. Their power was in their mouths, but also in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.
But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to turn from their evil deeds. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood- idols that neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their immorality or their thefts."
The Angel and the Small Scroll
"Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. And in his hand was a small scroll, which he had unrolled. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he gave a great shout, like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.
When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But a voice from heaven called to me: "Keep secret what the seven thunders said. Do not write it down."
Then the mighty angel standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand to heaven. And he swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, "God will wait no longer. But when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God's mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets."
Then the voice from heaven called to me again: "Go and take the unrolled scroll from the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."
So I approached him and asked him to give me the little scroll. "Yes, take it and eat it," he said. "At first it will taste like honey, but when you swallow it, it will make your stomach sour!" So I took the little scroll from the hands of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but it made my stomach sour. Then he said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings."
The Two Witnesses
If anyone tries to harm them,
fire flashes from the mouths of the prophets and consumes their enemies.
This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die.
They have power to shut the skies so that no rain will fall for as long as
they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into
blood, and to send every kind of plague upon the earth as often as they wish.
But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God entered
them, and they stood up! And terror struck all who were staring at them.
Then a loud voice shouted from heaven, "Come up here!" And they rose to
heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.
And in the same hour there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth
of the city. Seven thousand people died in that earthquake. And everyone who
did not die was terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
The second terror is past, but look, now the third terror is coming quickly.
The Seventh Trumpet Brings the Third Terror
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting
in heaven: "The whole world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his
Christ, and he will reign forever and ever."
And the twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell on
their faces and worshiped him.
The nations were angry with you,
"Then I was given a measuring stick, and I was told, "Go and measure the Temple
of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers.
But do not measure the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to
the nations. They will trample the holy city for 42 months.
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in
sackcloth and will prophesy during those 1,260 days."
These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that
stand before the Lord of all the earth.
When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the
bottomless pit will declare war against them. He will conquer them and
kill them.
And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the
city which is called "Sodom" and "Egypt," the city where their Lord
was crucified. And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes,
languages, and nations will come to stare at their bodies. No one will
be allowed to bury them.
All the people who belong to this world will give presents to each other
to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.
And they said,
"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the one who is and who always was,
for now you have assumed your great power
and have begun to reign.
but now the time of your wrath has come.
It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants.
You will reward your prophets and your holy people,
all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest.
And you will destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth."
Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his
covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder
crashed and roared; there was a great hailstorm, and the world was shaken
by a mighty earthquake."
The Woman and the Dragon
And when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the child. But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle. This allowed her to fly to a place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, times, and half a time.
Then the dragon tried to drown the woman with a flood of water that flowed from its mouth. But the earth helped her by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that gushed out from the mouth of the dragon. Then the dragon became angry at the woman, and he declared war against the rest of her children- all who keep God's commandments and confess that they belong to Jesus.
The Beast out of the Sea
Then he stood waiting on the shore of the sea."
"Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out in the pain of labor as she awaited her delivery.
Suddenly, I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads. His tail dragged down one-third of the stars, which he threw to the earth. He stood before the woman as she was about to give birth to her child, ready to devour the baby as soon as it was born.
She gave birth to a boy who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And the child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to give her care for 1,260 days.
Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle and was forced out of heaven.
This great dragon- the ancient serpent called the Devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world- was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.
Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens,
"It has happened at last- the salvation and power and kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ! For the Accuser has been thrown down to earth- the one who accused our brothers and sisters before our God day and night. And they have defeated him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of their testimony. And they were not afraid to die. Rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice!
But terror will come on the earth and the sea. For the Devil has come down to you in great anger, and he knows that he has little time."
Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb, and he spoke with the voice of a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the earth and those who belong to this world to worship the first beast, whose death-wound had been healed. He did astounding miracles, such as making fire flash down to earth from heaven while everyone was watching. And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people of the world to make a great statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. He was permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die."
"And now in my vision I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God. This beast looked like a leopard, but it had bear's feet and a lion's mouth! And the dragon gave him his own power and throne and great authority.
I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond recovery- but the fatal wound was healed! All the world marveled at this miracle and followed the beast in awe.
They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they worshiped the beast. "Is there anyone as great as the beast?" they exclaimed. "Who is able to fight against him?"
Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do what he wanted for forty-two months. And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and all who live in heaven, who are his temple. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God's holy people and to overcome them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life, which belongs to the Lamb who was killed before the world was made.
Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand. The people who are destined for prison will be arrested and taken away. Those who are destined for death will be killed. But do not be dismayed, for here is your opportunity to have endurance and faith.
The Beast out of the Earth
He required everyone- great and small, rich and poor, slave and free- to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. Wisdom is needed to understand this. Let the one who has understanding solve the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.
Revelation Chapters 14 - 22 |
Revelation Chapters 1 - 4 |
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