1 T hen the fifth angel blew trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth; and to the angel was given the key of the shaft of the Abyss (the bottomless pit).

The fifth angel blew his horn. I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to earth. The key to the hole without a bottom was given to the angel.

2 H e opened the long shaft of the Abyss (the bottomless pit), and smoke like the smoke of a huge furnace puffed out of the long shaft, so that the sun and the atmosphere were darkened by the smoke from the long shaft.

He opened the hole and smoke came out like the smoke from a place where there is much fire. The sun and the air became dark because of the smoke from the hole.

3 T hen out of the smoke locusts came forth on the earth, and such power was granted them as the power the earth’s scorpions have.

Locusts came down to the earth out of the smoke. They were given power to hurt like small animals that sting.

4 T hey were told not to injure the herbage of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only such human beings as do not have the seal (mark) of God on their foreheads.

They were told not to hurt the grass or any green plant or any tree. They were to hurt only the men who did not have the mark of God on their foreheads.

5 T hey were not permitted to kill them, but to torment (distress, vex) them for five months; and the pain caused them was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings a person.

The locusts were not allowed to kill these men. They were to give them much pain for five months like the pain that comes from a small animal that stings.

6 A nd in those days people will seek death and will not find it; and they will yearn to die, but death evades and flees from them.

Men will look for ways to die during those days, but they will not find any way. They will want to die, but death will be kept from them.

7 T he locusts resembled horses equipped for battle. On their heads was something like golden crowns. Their faces resembled the faces of people.

The locusts looked like horses ready for war. They had on their heads what looked like crowns of gold. Their faces were like men’s faces.

8 T hey had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.

Their hair was like the hair of women. Their teeth were like the teeth of lions.

9 T heir breastplates (scales) resembled breastplates made of iron, and the noise made by their wings was like the roar of a vast number of horse-drawn chariots going at full speed into battle.

Their chests were covered with what looked like pieces of iron. The sound their wings made was like the sound of many wagons rushing to war.

10 T hey have tails like scorpions, and they have stings, and in their tails lies their ability to hurt men for five months.

They had tails like a small animal that stings. The sting came from their tails. They were given power to hurt men for five months.

11 O ver them as king they have the angel of the Abyss (of the bottomless pit). In Hebrew his name is Abaddon, but in Greek he is called Apollyon.

These locusts have a king over them. He is the head angel of the hole that has no bottom. His name in the Hebrew language is Abbadon. In the Greek language it is Apollyon. (It means the one who destroys.)

12 T he first woe (calamity) has passed; behold, two others are yet to follow.

The first time of trouble is past. But see, there are two more times of trouble coming after this. The Sixth Horn—the Angels That Kill

13 T hen the sixth angel blew trumpet, and from the four horns of the golden altar which stands before God I heard a solitary voice,

The sixth angel blew his horn. I heard a voice coming from the four corners of the altar made of gold that is before God.

14 S aying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Liberate the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.

The voice said to the sixth angel who had the horn, “Let the four angels loose that have been chained at the big river Euphrates.”

15 S o the four angels who had been in readiness for that hour in the appointed day, month, and year were liberated to destroy a third of mankind.

They had been kept ready for that hour and day and month and year. They were let loose so they could kill one-third part of all men that were living.

16 T he number of their troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand (200, 000, 000); I heard what their number was.

The army had 200 million soldiers on horses. I heard them say how many there were.

17 A nd in vision the horses and their riders appeared to me like this: the riders wore breastplates the color of fiery red and sapphire blue and sulphur (brimstone) yellow. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and from their mouths there poured fire and smoke and sulphur (brimstone).

I saw, as God wanted to show me, the horses and the men on them. The men had pieces of iron over their chests. These were red like fire and blue like the sky and yellow like sulphur. The heads of the horses looked like the heads of lions. Fire and smoke and sulphur came out of their mouths.

18 A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues—by the fire and the smoke and the sulphur (brimstone) that poured from the mouths of the horses.

One-third part of all men was killed by the fire and smoke and sulphur that came out of their mouths.

19 F or the power of the horses to do harm is in their mouths and also in their tails. Their tails are like serpents, for they have heads, and it is by means of them that they wound people.

The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails were like the heads of snakes and with them they could bite and kill.

20 A nd the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues even then did not repent of the works of their hands, so as to cease paying homage to the demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor move.

The men that were still living after these troubles were past would not turn away from worshiping demons. They would not turn away from false gods made from gold and silver and brass and stone and wood. None of these false gods can see or hear or walk.

21 A nd they did not repent of their murders or their practice of magic (sorceries) or their sexual vice or their thefts.

These men were not sorry for their sins and would not turn away from all their killing and their witchcraft. They would not stop their sex sins and their stealing.