Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.

²We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.

³Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

⁴For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.

⁵And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross — not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony.

⁷So we have these three witnesses —

⁸the Spirit, the water, and the blood — and all three agree.

⁹Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son.

¹⁰All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.

¹¹And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

¹²Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

¹³I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

¹⁴And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.

¹⁵And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

¹⁶If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it.

¹⁷All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.

¹⁸We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.

¹⁹We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.

²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.

²¹Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

¹This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth — as does everyone else who knows the truth —

²because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.

³Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ — the Son of the Father — will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.

⁴How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.

⁵I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning.

⁶Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

⁷I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist.

⁸Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.

⁹Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement.

¹¹Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.

¹²I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.

¹³Greetings from the children of your sister, chosen by God.

¹This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth.

²Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.

³Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth.

⁴I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.

⁵Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you.

⁶They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God.

⁷For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers.

⁸So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.

⁹I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us.

¹⁰When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.

¹¹Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.

¹²Everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, as does the truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth.

¹³I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink.

¹⁴For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face.

¹⁵Peace be with you. Your friends here send you their greetings. Please give my personal greetings to each of our friends there.

¹This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ.

²May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.

³Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.

⁴I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful.

⁶And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.

⁷And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.

⁸In the same way, these people — who claim authority from their dreams — live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings.

⁹But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.)

¹⁰But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction.

¹¹What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion.

¹²When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots.

¹³They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

¹⁴Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones

¹⁵to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

¹⁶These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.

¹⁷But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted.

¹⁸They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires.

¹⁹These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.

²⁰But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,

²¹and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.

²²And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.

²³Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.

²⁴Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.

²⁵All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.

¹This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John,

²who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

³God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.

⁴This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne;

⁵and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us.

⁶He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

⁷Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him — even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen!

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega — the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come — the Almighty One.”

⁹I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus.

¹⁰It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast.

¹¹It said, “Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹²When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands.

¹³And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest.

¹⁴His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire.

¹⁵His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.

¹⁶He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.

¹⁸I am the living one. I died, but look — I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.

¹⁹“Write down what you have seen — both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.

²⁰This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

¹“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

²“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.

³You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

⁴“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!

⁵Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.

⁶But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.

⁷“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

⁸“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:

⁹“I know about your suffering and your poverty — but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.

¹⁰Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.

¹²“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:

¹³“I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.

¹⁴“But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.

¹⁵In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching.

¹⁶Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

¹⁷“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.

¹⁸“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:

¹⁹“I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.

²⁰“But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman — that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet — to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.

²¹I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.

²²“Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds.

²³I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.

²⁴“But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them — depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you

²⁵except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come.

²⁶To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations.

²⁷They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.

²⁸They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!

²⁹“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

¹“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive — but you are dead.

²Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.

³Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

⁴“Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

⁵All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

⁶“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

⁷“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open:

⁸“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.

⁹Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue — those liars who say they are Jews but are not — to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.

¹⁰“Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.

¹¹I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown.

¹²All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God — the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.

¹³“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

¹⁴“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen — the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:

¹⁵“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other!

¹⁶But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!

¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

¹⁸So I advise you to buy gold from me — gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.

¹⁹I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

²⁰“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

²¹Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.

²²“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”

¹Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.”

²And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it.

³The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones — like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.

⁴Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.

⁵From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God.

⁶In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back.

⁷The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.

⁸Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty — the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”

⁹Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever),

¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,

¹¹“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

¹Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals.

²And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?”

³But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.

⁴Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it.

⁵But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.

⁷He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne.

⁸And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

⁹And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

¹⁰And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”

¹¹Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders.

¹²And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered — to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”

¹³And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”

¹⁴And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.

¹As I watched, the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll. Then I heard one of the four living beings say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”

²I looked up and saw a white horse standing there. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory.

³When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Come!”

⁴Then another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere.

⁵When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Come!” I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.

⁶And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.”

⁷When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, “Come!”

⁸I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.

⁹When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony.

¹⁰They shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?”

¹¹Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters — their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred — had joined them.

¹²I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood.

¹³Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind.

¹⁴The sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places.

¹⁵Then everyone — the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person — all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

¹⁶And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.

¹⁷For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?”

¹Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree.

²And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea,

³“Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”

⁴And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God — 144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:

⁵from Judah — 12,000 from Reuben — 12,000 from Gad — 12,000

⁶from Asher — 12,000 from Naphtali — 12,000 from Manasseh — 12,000

⁷from Simeon — 12,000 from Levi — 12,000 from Issachar — 12,000

⁸from Zebulun — 12,000 from Joseph — 12,000 from Benjamin — 12,000

⁹After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.

¹⁰And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.

¹²They sang, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?”

¹⁴And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

¹⁵“That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter.

¹⁶They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.

¹⁷For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

¹When the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour.

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

³Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne.

⁴The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.

⁵Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.

⁶Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts.

⁷The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned.

⁸Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood,

⁹one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.

¹⁰Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

¹¹The name of the star was Bitterness. It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died from drinking the bitter water.

¹²Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark, and also one-third of the night.

¹³Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.”

¹Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

²When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.

³Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions.

⁴They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

⁵They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting.

⁶In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!

⁷The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces.

⁸They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion.

⁹They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle.

¹⁰They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people.

¹¹Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon — the Destroyer.

¹²The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!

¹³Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God.

¹⁴And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.”

¹⁵Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth.

¹⁶I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.

¹⁷And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths.

¹⁸One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues — by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses.

¹⁹Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.

²⁰But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood — idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!

²¹And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.