Revelation 9:13-21
The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the four corners of the golden altar. The altar stands in front of God. The voice spoke to the sixth angel who had the trumpet. The voice said, “Set the four angels free who are held at the great river Euphrates.” The four angels had been ready for this very hour and day and month and year. They were set free to kill a third of all people. The number of troops on horseback was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were.
The horses and riders I saw in my vision had armor on their chests. It was red like fire, dark blue, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of all people were killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of the horses’ mouths. The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. The tails were like snakes whose heads could bite.
There were people who were not killed by these plagues. But they still didn’t turn away from what they had been doing. They did not stop worshiping demons. They kept worshiping statues of gods made out of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. These statues can’t see or hear or walk. The people also did not turn away from their murders, witchcraft, sexual sins and stealing.
Revelation 10:1-11
The Angel and the Little Scroll
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was wearing a cloud like a robe. There was a rainbow above his head. His face was like the sun. His legs were like pillars of fire. He was holding a little scroll. It was lying open in his hand. The angel put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. Then he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. When they had spoken, I was getting ready to write. But I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said. Do not write it down.”
I had seen an angel standing on the sea and on the land. This angel raised his right hand to heaven. He made a promise in the name of the God who lives for ever and ever. This is the God who created the sky, earth and sea and all that is in them. The angel said, “There will be no more waiting! God’s plan will be carried out. This will happen when the seventh angel is ready to blow his trumpet. God told all this to the prophets who served him long ago.”
Then the voice I had heard from heaven spoke to me again. It said, “The angel is standing on the sea and on the land. Go and take the scroll from him. It is lying open in his hand.”
So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will become sour in your stomach. But ‘in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.’ ” (Ezekiel 3:3) I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. In my mouth it tasted as sweet as honey. But when I had eaten it, it became sour in my stomach. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”
