Revelation 8

1 When the Lamb ripped off the seventh seal, Heaven fell quiet-complete silence for about half an hour.

2 I saw the Seven Angels who are always in readiness before God handed seven trumpets.3 Then another Angel, carrying a gold censer, came and stood at the Altar. He was given a great quantity of incense so that he could offer up the prayers of all the holy people of God on the Golden Altar before the Throne.4 Smoke billowed up from the incense-laced prayers of the holy ones, rose before God from the hand of the Angel.

5 Then the Angel filled the censer with fire from the Altar and heaved it to earth. It set off thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake.

6 The Seven Angels with the trumpets got ready to blow them.7 At the first trumpet blast, hail and fire mixed with blood were dumped on earth. A third of the earth was scorched, a third of the trees, and every blade of green grass-burned to a crisp.

8 The second Angel trumpeted. Something like a huge mountain blazing with fire was flung into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood,9 a third of the living sea creatures died, and a third of the ships sank.

10 The third Angel trumpeted. A huge Star, blazing like a torch, fell from Heaven, wiping out a third of the rivers and a third of the springs.11 The Star's name was Wormwood. A third of the water turned bitter, and many people died from the poisoned water.

12 The fourth Angel trumpeted. A third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars were hit, blacked out by a third, both day and night in one-third blackout.

13 I looked hard; I heard a lone eagle, flying through Middle-Heaven, crying out ominously, "Doom! Doom! Doom to everyone left on earth! There are three more Angels about to blow their trumpets. Doom is on its way!"

Revelation 9

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.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.

3 Then out of the smoke crawled locusts with the venom of scorpions.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."5 They were ordered to torture but not kill, torture them for five months, the pain like a scorpion sting.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.

7 The locusts looked like horses ready for war. They had gold crowns, human faces,8 women's hair, the teeth of lions,9 and iron breastplates. The sound of their wings was the sound of horse-drawn chariots charging into 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.11 They had a king over them, the Angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, in Greek, Apollyon-"Destroyer."

12 The first doom is past. Two dooms yet to come.

13 The sixth Angel trumpeted. I heard a voice speaking to the sixth Angel from the horns of the Golden Altar before God:14 "Let the Four Angels loose, the Angels confined at 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.16 The number of the army of horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard the count17 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.18 With these three weapons-fire and smoke and brimstone-they killed a third of the human race.19 The horses killed with their mouths and tails; their serpentlike tails also had heads that wreaked havoc.

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.21 There wasn't a sign of a change of heart. They plunged right on in their murderous, occult, promiscuous, and thieving ways.

Revelation 10

1 I saw another powerful Angel coming down out of Heaven wrapped in a cloud. There was a rainbow over his head, his face was sun-radiant, his legs pillars of fire.2 He had a small book open in his hand. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on land,3 then called out thunderously, a lion roar. When he called out, the Seven Thunders called back.4 When the Seven Thunders spoke, I started to write it all down, but a voice out of Heaven stopped me, saying, "Seal with silence the Seven Thunders; don't write a word."

5 Then the Angel I saw astride sea and land lifted his right hand to Heaven6 and swore by the One Living Forever and Ever, who created Heaven and everything in it, earth and everything in it, sea and everything in it, that time was up -7 that when the seventh Angel blew his trumpet, which he was about to do, the Mystery of God, all the plans he had revealed to his servants, the prophets, would be completed.

8 The voice out of Heaven spoke to me again: "Go, take the book held open in the hand of the Angel astride sea and earth."9 I went up to the Angel and said, "Give me the little book." He said, "Take it, then eat it. It will taste sweet like honey, but turn sour in your stomach."10 I took the little book from the Angel's hand and it was sweet honey in my mouth, but when I swallowed, my stomach curdled.11 Then I was told, "You must go back and prophesy again over many peoples and nations and languages and kings."