Revelation 9 - 10

Then the fifth angel sounded. Then I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given to him. 2 And he opened the pit of the abyss and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And they were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. 6 And in those days men will seek death and will never find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. 7 And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses running to battle. 10 And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. 11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things. 13 Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, so that they would kill a third of mankind. 16 And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17 And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sit on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths come fire and smoke and brimstone. 18 A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm. 20 And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their sexual immorality nor of their thefts.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

Then I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud, and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; 2 and he had in his hand a little scroll which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the earth, 3 and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. And when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. 4 And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” 5 Then the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the earth, lifted up his right hand to heaven, 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He proclaimed good news to His slaves, the prophets. 8 Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.” 9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. And he *said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And they *said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”