The Seventh Seal

¹When the Lamb broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

²Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.

³Another angel, who had a gold incense container, came and stood at the altar. He was given a lot of incense to add to the prayers of all God's people and to offer it on the gold altar that stands before the throne.

⁴The smoke of the burning incense went up with the prayers of God's people from the hands of the angel standing before God.

⁵Then the angel took the incense container, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. There were rumblings and peals of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Trumpets

⁶Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

⁷The first angel blew his trumpet. Hail and fire, mixed with blood, came pouring down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees, and every blade of green grass.

⁸Then the second angel blew his trumpet. Something that looked like a huge mountain on fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea was turned into blood,

⁹a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰Then the third angel blew his trumpet. A large star, burning like a torch, dropped from the sky and fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

¹¹(The name of the star is “Bitterness.”) A third of the water turned bitter, and many people died from drinking the water, because it had turned bitter.

¹²Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet. A third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that their light lost a third of its brightness; there was no light during a third of the day and a third of the night also.

¹³Then I looked, and I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air say in a loud voice, “O horror! horror! How horrible it will be for all who live on earth when the sound comes from the trumpets that the other three angels must blow!”

¹Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet. I saw a star which had fallen down to the earth, and it was given the key to the abyss.

²The star opened the abyss, and smoke poured out of it, like the smoke from a large furnace; the sunlight and the air were darkened by the smoke from the abyss.

³Locusts came down out of the smoke upon the earth, and they were given the same kind of power that scorpions have.

⁴They were told not to harm the grass or the trees or any other plant; they could harm only the people who did not have the mark of God's seal on their foreheads.

⁵The locusts were not allowed to kill these people, but only to torture them for five months. The pain caused by the torture is like the pain caused by a scorpion's sting.

⁶During those five months they will seek death, but will not find it; they will want to die, but death will flee from them.

⁷The locusts looked like horses ready for battle; on their heads they had what seemed to be crowns of gold, and their faces were like human faces.

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

⁹Their chests were covered with what looked like iron breastplates, and the sound made by their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.

¹⁰They have tails and stings like those of a scorpion, and it is with their tails that they have the power to hurt people for five months.

¹¹They have a king ruling over them, who is the angel in charge of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon; in Greek the name is Apollyon (meaning “The Destroyer”).

¹²The first horror is over; after this there are still two more horrors to come.

¹³Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet. I heard a voice coming from the four corners of the gold altar standing before God.

¹⁴The voice said to the sixth angel, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River!”

¹⁵The four angels were released; for this very hour of this very day of this very month and year they had been kept ready to kill a third of all the human race.

¹⁶I was told the number of the mounted troops: it was two hundred million.

¹⁷And in my vision I saw the horses and their riders: they had breastplates red as fire, blue as sapphire, and yellow as sulfur. The horses' heads were like lions' heads, and from their mouths came out fire, smoke, and sulfur.

¹⁸A third of the human race was killed by those three plagues: the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur coming out of the horses' mouths.

¹⁹For the power of the horses is in their mouths and also in their tails. Their tails are like snakes with heads, and they use them to hurt people.

²⁰The rest of the human race, all those who had not been killed by these plagues, did not turn away from what they themselves had made. They did not stop worshiping demons, nor the idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk.

²¹Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic, their sexual immorality, or their stealing.

The Angel and the Little Scroll

¹Then I saw another mighty angel coming down out of heaven. He was wrapped in a cloud and had a rainbow around his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like columns of fire.

²He had a small scroll open in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,

³and called out in a loud voice that sounded like the roar of lions. After he had called out, the seven thunders answered with a roar.

⁴As soon as they spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice speak from heaven, “Keep secret what the seven thunders have said; do not write it down!”

⁵Then the angel that I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven

⁶and took a vow in the name of God, who lives forever and ever, who created heaven, earth, and the sea, and everything in them. The angel said, “There will be no more delay!

⁷But when the seventh angel blows his trumpet, then God will accomplish his secret plan, as he announced to his servants, the prophets.”

⁸Then the voice that I had heard speaking from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go and take the open scroll which is in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it; it will turn sour in your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

¹⁰I took the little scroll from his hand and ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey in my mouth. But after I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.

¹¹Then I was told, “Once again you must proclaim God's message about many nations, races, languages, and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

¹I was then given a stick that looked like a measuring-rod, and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshiping in the temple.

²But do not measure the outer courts, because they have been given to the heathen, who will trample on the Holy City for forty-two months.

³I will send my two witnesses dressed in sackcloth, and they will proclaim God's message during those 1, 260 days.”

⁴The two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the earth.

⁵If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and destroys their enemies; and in this way whoever tries to harm them will be killed.

⁶They have authority to shut up the sky so that there will be no rain during the time they proclaim God's message. They have authority also over the springs of water, to turn them into blood; they have authority also to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.

⁷When they finish proclaiming their message, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will fight against them. He will defeat them and kill them,

⁸and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, where their Lord was crucified. The symbolic name of that city is Sodom, or Egypt.

⁹People from all nations, tribes, languages, and races will look at their bodies for three and a half days and will not allow them to be buried.

¹⁰The people of the earth will be happy because of the death of these two. They will celebrate and send presents to each other, because those two prophets brought much suffering upon the whole human race.

¹¹After three and a half days a life-giving breath came from God and entered them, and they stood up; and all who saw them were terrified.

¹²Then the two prophets heard a loud voice say to them from heaven, “Come up here!” As their enemies watched, they went up into heaven in a cloud.

¹³At that very moment there was a violent earthquake; a tenth of the city was destroyed, and seven thousand people were killed. The rest of the people were terrified and praised the greatness of the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second horror is over, but the third horror will come soon!

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The power to rule over the world belongs now to our Lord and his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever!”

¹⁶Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones in front of God threw themselves face downward and worshiped God,

¹⁷saying: “Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was! We thank you that you have taken your great power and have begun to rule!

¹⁸The heathen were filled with rage, because the time for your anger has come, the time for the dead to be judged. The time has come to reward your servants, the prophets, and all your people, all who have reverence for you, great and small alike. The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!”

¹⁹God's temple in heaven was opened, and the Covenant Box was seen there. Then there were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

¹From Paul, a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy— To our friend and fellow worker Philemon,

²and the church that meets in your house, and our sister Apphia, and our fellow soldier Archippus:

³May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Philemon's Love and Faith

⁴Brother Philemon, every time I pray, I mention you and give thanks to my God.

⁵For I hear of your love for all of God's people and the faith you have in the Lord Jesus.

⁶My prayer is that our fellowship with you as believers will bring about a deeper understanding of every blessing which we have in our life in union with Christ.

⁷Your love, dear brother, has brought me great joy and much encouragement! You have cheered the hearts of all of God's people.

A Request for Onesimus

⁸For this reason I could be bold enough, as your brother in Christ, to order you to do what should be done.

⁹But because I love you, I make a request instead. I do this even though I am Paul, the ambassador of Christ Jesus, and at present also a prisoner for his sake.

¹⁰So I make a request to you on behalf of Onesimus, who is my own son in Christ; for while in prison I have become his spiritual father.

¹¹At one time he was of no use to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me.

¹²I am sending him back to you now, and with him goes my heart.

¹³I would like to keep him here with me, while I am in prison for the gospel's sake, so that he could help me in your place.

¹⁴However, I do not want to force you to help me; rather, I would like for you to do it of your own free will. So I will not do anything unless you agree.

¹⁵It may be that Onesimus was away from you for a short time so that you might have him back for all time.

¹⁶And now he is not just a slave, but much more than a slave: he is a dear brother in Christ. How much he means to me! And how much more he will mean to you, both as a slave and as a brother in the Lord!

¹⁷So, if you think of me as your partner, welcome him back just as you would welcome me.

¹⁸If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to my account.

¹⁹Here, I will write this with my own hand: I, Paul, will pay you back (I should not have to remind you, of course, that you owe your very self to me.)

²⁰So, my brother, please do me this favor for the Lord's sake; as a brother in Christ, cheer me up!

²¹I am sure, as I write this, that you will do what I ask—in fact I know that you will do even more.

²²At the same time, get a room ready for me, because I hope that God will answer the prayers of all of you and give me back to you.

Final Greetings

²³Epaphras, who is in prison with me for the sake of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings,

²⁴and so do my co-workers Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke.

²⁵May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

¹⁶She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷She is a hard worker, strong and industrious.

¹⁸She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night.