Revelation 8
The seventh seal
1And when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.•
2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.•3Then another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer. Much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne.•4From the hand of the angel, the smoke of the incense went up before God with the prayers of the saints.•5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it onto the earth; and there were thunders, and voices, and flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.•
The first four trumpets
6The seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to blow their trumpets.•7And the first blew his trumpet: there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were cast upon 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.•
8And the second angel blew his trumpet: something like a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood,•9and a third of the creatures that were in the sea, those that had life, died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.•
10And the third angel blew his trumpet: a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of the waters.•11The star is called Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the waters, because they were made bitter.•
12And 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 a third of them would be darkened, and the day would not shine for a third of it, and likewise the night.•13And I saw, and I heard an angel flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice: Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to blow!•
Notes
- 8:1 Cf. Hab 2:20; Zeph 1:7; Zech 2:13 (Heb. 2:17). ↩
- 8:2 “Stand”: Gr. ἑστήκασιν, perfect. “Trumpets”: Gr. σάλπιγγες (cf. 1:10; 4:1; Num 10:9; Josh 6:4; Joel 2:1). ↩
- 8:3 “At the altar”: Gr. ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, lit. “upon the altar”. “Censer”: Gr. λιβανωτός. “That he might add it to the prayers”: lit. “that he might give it to the prayers”. “Golden altar… before the throne”: cf. Ex 30:1–10; 40:5; Lev 16:12–13. ↩
- 8:4 “With the prayers”: Gr. ταῖς προσευχαῖς, the same dative as in 8:3, rendered there “to the prayers” (cf. 5:8; Ps 141:2). ↩
- 8:5 “Took”: Gr. εἴληφεν, perfect (cf. 5:7). Cf. Lev 16:12; Ezek 10:2. “Thunders, and voices, and flashes of lightning”: cf. 4:5; 11:19; 16:18; Ex 19:16. ↩
- 8:6 “Blow their trumpets”: Gr. σαλπίζω, “to sound the trumpet”. ↩
- 8:7 “Hail and fire”: cf. Ex 9:23–25. “They were cast”: Gr. ἐβλήθη, singular. “Green”: Gr. χλωρός, the same term rendered “pale” in 6:8. Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “the first angel” and omits “and a third of the earth was burned up”. ↩
- 8:8 “Something like a great mountain”: Gr. ὡς ὄρος μέγα. Cf. Jer 51:25. “Became blood”: cf. Ex 7:20–21. Variant: the Byzantine text omits “with fire”; the Textus Receptus has it. ↩
- 8:9 “Creatures”: Gr. κτίσματα (cf. 5:13). “That had life”: Gr. τὰ ἔχοντα ψυχάς, lit. “that had souls” (cf. 6:9; 16:3). ↩
- 8:10 “Torch”: Gr. λαμπάς (cf. 4:5). ↩
- 8:11 “The star is called Wormwood”: lit. “the name of the star is called: the Wormwood”. “Wormwood”: Gr. ἄψινθος, a bitter-tasting plant. Cf. Jer 9:15 (Heb. 9:14); 23:15; Amos 5:7; Ex 15:23. ↩
- 8:12 “Was struck”: Gr. πλήσσω. Cf. Ex 10:21–23; Joel 2:10; Amos 8:9. ↩
- 8:13 “Angel”: follows the Textus Receptus and some manuscripts (ἀγγέλου; cf. 14:6, another angel “flying in midheaven”); the SBLGNT, codices Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus, and the Byzantine text read “eagle” (ἀετοῦ). “Midheaven”: Gr. μεσουράνημα, the highest point of the sky (cf. 14:6; 19:17). “Woe”: Gr. οὐαί (cf. 9:12; 11:14; 12:12). “Remaining”: Gr. λοιπαί. ↩