1And 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.2And 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.3And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.4And 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.5And 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.6And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.7And 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.8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.9And 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.10And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.11And 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.12One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.13And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,14Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.15And 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.16And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.17And 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.18By 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.19For 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.20And 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:21Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Revelation 9
New International Reader’s Version
1The 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 a bottomless pit. The pit was called the Abyss.2The star opened the Abyss. Then smoke rose up from it like the smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.3Out of the smoke came locusts. They came down on the earth. They were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree. They were supposed to harm only the people without God’s official seal on their foreheads.5The locusts were not allowed to kill these people. But the locusts could hurt them over and over for five months. The pain the people suffered was like the sting of a scorpion when it strikes.6In 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.7The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces.8Their hair was like women’s hair. Their teeth were like lions’ teeth.9Their chests were covered with something that looked like armour made out of iron. The sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.10They had tails that could sting people as scorpions do. And in their tails they had power to hurt people over and over for five months.11Their king was the angel of the Abyss. In the Hebrew language his name is Abaddon. In Greek it is Apollyon. His name means Destroyer.12The first terrible judgment is past. Two others are still coming.13The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the four corners of the golden altar. The altar stands in front of God.14The voice spoke to the sixth angel who had the trumpet. The voice said, ‘Set the four angels free who are held at the great river Euphrates.’15The 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.16The number of troops on horseback was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were.17The horses and riders I saw in my vision had armour on their chests. It was red like fire, dark blue, and yellow like sulphur. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulphur.18A third of all people were killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulphur that came out of the horses’ mouths.19The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. The tails were like snakes whose heads could bite.20There were people who were not killed by these plagues. But they still didn’t turn away from what they had been doing. They did not stop worshipping demons. They kept worshipping statues of gods made out of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. These statues can’t see or hear or walk.21The people also did not turn away from their murders, witchcraft, sexual sins and stealing.