Bible Reading Plan – Day 363

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 river Euphrates!” 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 humanity. ₁₆I was told the number of the mounted troops: it was 200,000,000. ₁₇And in my vision I saw the horses and their riders: they had breastplates red as fire, blue as sapphire, and yellow as sulphur. The horses' heads were like lions' heads, and from their mouths came out fire, smoke, and sulphur. ₁₈A third of humanity was killed by those three plagues: the fire, the smoke, and the sulphur 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 humanity, all those who had not been killed by these plagues, did not turn away from what they themselves had made. They did not stop worshipping 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.

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

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 worshipping 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 42 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 earth. 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 7,000 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!

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 for ever and ever!” ₁₆Then the 24 elders who sit on their thrones in front of God threw themselves face downwards and worshipped God, ₁₇saying:

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.

₁Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ₂She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out.

₃Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. ₄With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born. ₅Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and his throne. ₆The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days.

₇Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; ₈but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. ₉The huge dragon was thrown out — that ancient serpent, called the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

₁₀Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused our brothers and sisters day and night has been thrown out of heaven. ₁₁Our brothers and sisters won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. ₁₂And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left.”

₁₃When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the boy. ₁₄She was given the two wings of a large eagle in order to fly to her place in the desert, where she will be taken care of for three and a half years, safe from the dragon's attack. ₁₅And then from his mouth the dragon poured out a flood of water after the woman, so that it would carry her away. ₁₆But the earth helped the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth. ₁₇The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus. ₁₈And the dragon stood on the seashore.