Revelation 8:6-9:12 (NRSV)
The trumpet of God's judgment
Now the seven angels who had the seven
trumpets made ready to blow them.
The first angel blew his trumpet, and
there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were hurled to the earth;
and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up,
and all green grass was burned up.
The second angel blew his trumpet,
and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea.
A third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea
died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
The third angel blew his
trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on
a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is
Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water,
because it was made bitter.
The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third
of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so
that a third of their light was darkened; a third of the day was kept from
shining, and likewise the night.
Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying
with a loud voice as it flew in midheaven, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of
the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about
to blow!"
And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that
had fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the
bottomless pit; he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft
rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were
darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the
earth, and they were given authority like the authority of scorpions of the
earth. They were told not to damage the grass of the earth or any green growth
or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their
foreheads. They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill
them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings
someone. And in those days people will seek death but will not find it; they
will long to die, but death will flee from them.
In appearance the locusts
were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what looked like
crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair,
and their teeth like lions' teeth; they had scales like iron breastplates, and
the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing
into battle. They have tails like scorpions, with stingers, and in their tails
is their power to harm people for five months. They have as king over them the
angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is
called Apollyon.
The first woe has passed. There are still two woes to come.
If you
have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see
the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaLta
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