Den femte trompet
1Da den femte engel blæste i sin trompet, så jeg, at der faldt en stjerne fra himlen ned på jorden. Den fik nøglen til skakten, som fører ned til jordens indre afgrund. 2Den åbnede for skakten ned til afgrunden, og en røgsky som fra en meget stor ovn steg op og skyggede for solen, så det blev halvmørkt over det hele. 3Ud af røgskyen kom der græshopper, som spredte sig ud over jorden, og de blev udstyret med den samme gift, som skorpioner har. 4De fik at vide, at de hverken måtte angribe græs, urter eller træer, men kun de mennesker, der ikke havde Guds mærke på panden. 5De fik ikke lov til at slå dem ihjel, men til at pine dem i fem måneder. Og smerterne er, som når man bliver stukket af en skorpion. 6Det bliver så pinefuldt, at menneskene vil ønske at dø, men de dør ikke.
7Græshopperne lignede heste, der er rustet til krig. Det var, som om de havde gyldne kranse på hovederne. Deres ansigter lignede menneskeansigter. 8Deres hår var langt som en kvindes hår, og deres tænder frygtindgydende som en løves tænder. 9De var dækket af brynjer, der var lavet af jern, og lyden af deres vinger var som lyden af mange stridsvogne med heste i fuldt trav. 10De havde haler med en stikkende brod ligesom skorpioner, og med deres stik havde de magt til at plage menneskene i fem måneder. 11De havde en hersker over sig, nemlig afgrundens engel. Hans hebraiske navn er Abaddon, og hans græske navn er Apollyon.9,11 Disse navne betyder „Ødelæggeren”.
12Det var det første „ak og ve”, men der er endnu to tilbage.
Den sjette trompet
13Da den sjette engel blæste i sin trompet, hørte jeg en stemme, der kom fra hornene på det forgyldte røgelsesalter i Guds tempel. 14Stemmen råbte til den sjette engel, der havde trompeten: „Løs de fire engle, der står bundne ved den store flod Eufrat!” 15De fire engle, som var holdt i beredskab til netop denne time, dag, måned og år, blev løst, og deres opgave var at dræbe en tredjedel af alle mennesker. 16De sendte en rytterhær af sted på 20.000 gange 10.000 mand. Jeg hørte tallet blive nævnt.
17Jeg iagttog hestene såvel som de ryttere, der sad på dem. Rytterne havde ildrøde, mørkeblå og svovlgule rustninger på. Hestenes hoveder var frygtindgydende som løvehoveder, og røg og ild og brændende svovl stod ud af munden på dem. 18En tredjedel af alle mennesker blev dræbt af røgen, ilden og den brændende svovl. 19Hestene kunne dræbe både med munden og med halen. Halen lignede en slange og havde et hoved, som huggede efter folk.
20De mennesker, der overlevede disse plager, holdt dog ikke op med deres onde handlinger. De fortsatte med at dyrke onde ånder og afgudsbilleder af guld, sølv, kobber, sten og træ, afguder, der hverken kan se eller høre eller bevæge sig. 21De holdt ikke op med deres voldshandlinger, okkultisme, seksuelle synder og tyverier.
1The fifth angel blew his trumpet. Then I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the tunnel leading down into a bottomless pit. The pit was called the Abyss. 2The star opened the Abyss. Then smoke rose up from it like the smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3Out of the smoke came locusts. They came down on the earth. They were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree. They were supposed to harm only the people without God’s official seal on their foreheads. 5The locusts were not allowed to kill these people. But the locusts could hurt them over and over for five months. The pain the people suffered was like the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6In those days, people will look for a way to die but won’t find it. They will want to die, but death will escape them.
7The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces. 8Their hair was like women’s hair. Their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9Their chests were covered with something that looked like armor made out of iron. The sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10They had tails that could sting people like scorpions do. And in their tails they had power to hurt people over and over for five months. 11Their king was the angel of the Abyss. In the Hebrew language his name is Abaddon. In Greek it is Apollyon. His name means Destroyer.
12The first terrible judgment is past. Two others are still coming.
13The 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. 14The 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.” 15The 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. 16The number of troops on horseback was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were.
17The 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. 18A third of all people were killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of the horses’ mouths. 19The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. The tails were like snakes whose heads could bite.
20There 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. 21The people also did not turn away from their murders, witchcraft, sexual sins and stealing.
