Bok of Revelation CH 8-14

Book of Revelation: Chapters 8-14

Chapter 8

The *Lamb opens the last *lock

v1 Then the *Lamb opened the last (seventh) *lock. And it was completely quiet in *heaven for about half an hour. v2 Then I saw the 7 *angels who stand in front of God. Someone gave them 7 *trumpets.

v3 Another *angel came then. He stood at the special table where people offered gifts to God. He had a gold cup to burn *incense. God gave him a lot of this *incense which makes a nice smell. He offered it to God, with the words that all God's people prayed. He offered it all on the special gold table that was in front of the *throne. v4 The smoke from the *incense went up in front of God when the *angel offered it. It went up with what God's people prayed. v5 Then the *angel took the cup and he filled it with fire from the special table. He threw the cup down on to the earth. Then there were loud noises and bright lights, like a very bad storm. And everything on the earth moved.

The first 4 *trumpets

v6 Then the 7 *angels who held the 7 *trumpets prepared themselves. They were going to make a sound with their *trumpets. v7 The first *angel made a sound with his *trumpet, and then hard rain like stones fell on the earth. It came down with fire and blood. It seemed that God was throwing it down. It burned a third (big part) of the earth. It burned a third of the trees, and all the green grass.

v8 The second *angel made a sound with his *trumpet. Then I saw something like a very big mountain that was burning with fire. It seemed that God threw this mountain into the sea. And a third (big part) of the sea became blood. v9 A third of the animals in the sea died. It destroyed a third of the ships on the sea also.

v10 The next (third) *angel made a sound with his *trumpet. And a very big star, which was burning with a bright light, fell from the sky. It fell on a third (many) of the rivers and on the places where water comes up from the ground. v11 The name of the star means 'It tastes bad'. So a third of the waters became bad. Many people died because they drank that bad water.

v12 The next (fourth) *angel made a sound with his *trumpet. Then a third (big part) of the sun, a third of the moon and a third of the stars became dark. So there was no light for a third of the day and a third of the night.

v13 Then I looked, and I saw a big bird called an eagle, with strong *wings. It was flying high in the sky. I heard it say with a loud voice: 'Great trouble, great trouble, great trouble is coming to the people who live on the earth. When the other 3 *angels make a sound with their *trumpets, then very bad things will happen!'

Chapter 9

The next (fifth) *trumpet

v1 The next (fifth) *angel made a sound with his *trumpet. Then I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. Someone gave a key to that star. It was the key to the narrow way that goes into the deep hole. That hole is under the earth and it has no end. v2 The star opened the way into the deep hole. Smoke came up out of the hole, like the smoke from a very big fire. The sun and the sky became dark because of the smoke from the hole.

v3 Locusts came out of the smoke and they came down upon the earth. They received authority to cause much pain. They were like scorpions, which are small animals with poison in their tails. v4 Someone told them that they must not do anything bad to the grass on the earth. They must not attack any plant or any tree. They could only attack people who did not have God's mark on the front of their heads. v5 The locusts did not have authority to kill those people. They could only cause them very bad pain for 5 months. The people's pain was like the pain from a scorpion. When a scorpion attacks someone, the poison from its tail can cause very bad pain. v6 During that sad time, people will want to kill themselves. They will want to die because of the pain. But God will not let them die.

v7 The locusts were like horses that were ready to fight in a war. They wore what seemed to be gold *crowns on their heads. And their faces were like human faces.

v8 Their hair was like women's hair and their teeth were like *lions' teeth.

v9 They had something like large iron plates over the front of their bodies. And their *wings made a great noise like many horses that are pulling *carts. (The horses run with the *carts to fight a war.)

v10 They had tails, and they had poison in their tails like scorpions. They had authority to attack people with their tails and to cause them pain for 5 months.

v11 The king that ruled them was the *angel of the deep hole. His name is Abaddon in the Hebrew language, and Apollyon in the Greek language. (This name means: "someone that destroys".)

v12 The first great trouble has finished. But there are two other great troubles still to come.

The next (sixth) *trumpet

v13 The next (sixth) *angel made a sound with his *trumpet. And I heard someone speak to him from the 4 corners of the special, gold table. (This was the table where they burned *incense in front of God.)

v14 "There are 4 *angels at the great Euphrates river", the voice said. "They cannot move. But now you must cause them to be free."

v15 God had kept those *angels ready for that special time in that day, in that month and in that year. And the 4 *angels became free to kill a third of (one out of every three) people everywhere.

v16 I heard how many soldiers on horses there were in the army. They said that there were 200 million of them.

v17 It was like a dream when I saw those soldiers and horses. They had something like big metal plates over the front of their bodies. These plates were bright red like fire, bright blue, and bright yellow like *sulphur. The horses' heads were like *lions' heads. And fire, smoke and *sulphur came out of their mouths.

v18 The fire, smoke and *sulphur that came out of the horses' mouths killed people. These three bad things killed a third of (one out of every three) people everywhere.

v19 The horses could kill people with their mouths and with their tails. Their tails were like snakes, with heads, and mouths that could bite people.

v20 All the people that the fire, smoke and *sulphur did not kill were still not sorry. They were not sorry for what they had done wrong. They had made false gods with their own hands. And they did not stop *worshipping bad *spirits or their false gods. They had made false gods out of gold, out of silver (a white metal) and out of bronze (a yellow metal). They had also made false gods out of stone and out of wood. Their false gods could neither see nor hear. Nor could their false gods walk.

v21 The people were not sorry that they had done murders. They were not sorry that they used *magic. They continued to have sex with people who were not their husbands or wives. They were not sorry about it at all. And they were not sorry that they robbed other people.

Chapter 10

The strong *angel and the little book

v1 Then I saw another strong *angel who was coming down from *heaven. He had a cloud all round him, like clothes. There was a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun and his legs were like tall fires.

v2 He had a little book, which was open, in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.

v3 Then he shouted with a loud voice like the sound that a *lion makes. When he shouted, the 7 loud noises answered him. They were like the sounds of a storm.

v4 When the 7 loud noises spoke, I was ready to write. But I heard someone speak to me from *heaven. "Keep secret what the 7 loud noises have said. Do not write it down", he said.

v5 Then I looked again at the *angel with one foot on the sea and the other foot on the land. He raised his right hand to *heaven.

v6 And he promised something by the name of God, who will always be alive. God made *heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them. The *angel promised that nobody would have to wait any longer.

v7 God will finish his secret purposes, just as he told his servants the *prophets long ago. He will finish his purposes when the last (seventh) *angel with a *trumpet is ready. This *angel will make a sound with his *trumpet too.

v8 Then I heard the same person speak to me from *heaven again. "{Go to the *angel who is standing with one foot on the sea and the other foot on the land", he said. "Take the book that is open in his hand."

v9 So I went to the *angel and I asked him for the little book. "Take it and eat it", he said to me. "It will be as sweet as sugar in your mouth. But it will hurt your stomach."

v10 So I took the little book from the *angel's hand and I ate it. It was as sweet as sugar in my mouth. But when I had eaten the book, it hurt my stomach.

v11 Then someone spoke to me. "You must tell God's messages to people again", he said. "You must tell about people from many countries, about people who speak many languages. And you must tell about many kings."

Chapter 11

God's two *witnesses

v1 Someone gave me a long stick, like the sticks that people use to measure things. "Go and measure God's house. And measure the special table where people offer gifts to God", he told me. "You must count the people who are *worshipping there."


v2 But you must not include the yard outside God's house. Do not measure that yard, because God has given it to the other people. Those people are not *Jews. They come from countries where nobody knows God. They will walk through the whole city where God's people live. They will destroy it for 42 months.

v3 And I will give authority to my two *witnesses. Then they will tell my messages during those 1260 days. They will wear cloth that people make from animals' hair. These clothes show that they are sad.

v4 These *witnesses are the two *olive trees and the two *lampstands that stand in front of God. They stand in front of the *Lord of the earth.

v5 If anyone tries to do something bad to them, fire comes out of the *witnesses' mouths. And this fire destroys their enemies. The fire will kill everyone who wants to do something bad to these *witnesses.

v6 These *witnesses have authority. They can shut up the sky and then it will not rain. There will be no rain during the time that they tell their messages from God. They also have authority to cause the water on earth to become blood. And they can send many other troubles to the earth as often as they want.

v7 When they finish speaking as God's *witnesses, a strange animal will fight against them. This strange animal will come up out of the deep hole that has no end. And he will beat the *witnesses and he will kill them.

v8 Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the powerful city where people killed their *Lord. They killed him on a cross. The name of this city might be Sodom or Egypt, because this city is as bad as those places.

v9 People from every country, from every family group and from every language will look at the *witnesses' dead bodies. The people will look at them for 3½ days. They will refuse to let anyone bury the bodies.

v10 The people on the earth will be very happy because the *witnesses are dead. They will be happy because these two *prophets had caused bad trouble for them. They will send gifts to each other because they are very happy.

v11 But after 3½ days, God's *Spirit came into those dead bodies. He caused them to become alive again. So they stood up. And the people who saw them were very afraid.

v12 Then the *witnesses heard someone speak loudly to them from *heaven. Come up here, he said. So they went up to *heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.

v13 At the same time the ground moved. It moved so much that one in every ten of the buildings in the city fell down. And because the ground moved, 7000 people died there. Then the other people, who were still alive, were very afraid. And they said that the God of *heaven is very great.

v14 The second great trouble has finished. But the third great trouble will come soon.

v15 The last (seventh) *angel with a *trumpet made a sound with it. Then there was the sound of loud voices in *heaven. They shouted: Our *Lord and his Christ now have all authority to rule the world! God will rule always!

v16 The 24 leaders were sitting on their *thrones in front of God. And they threw themselves down on their faces and they *worshipped God.

v17 They said this:˜We thank you, *Lord God, because you have begun to rule! You are alive now and you have always been alive. You have all the power and you are using your great authority!

v18 The countries that do not know you were very angry. But now you are showing that you are very angry with them. You will decide what is fair for all the people who have died. You will give your servants what they ought to have. Your servants include the *prophets and everyone who really believes you. Some of your servants are strong, important people,and some are not. Now you will destroy all those who destroy the earth.

v19 Then they opened God's house in *heaven. And I saw God's special covenant box inside it. Then there were the bright lights and loud noises of a storm. The ground moved a lot and much hard rain fell from the sky. It was just like stones falling.

Chapter 12

The woman and the big red snake

v1 A great surprise appeared in *heaven. I saw a woman who was wearing the sun like clothes. The moon was under her feet and a *crown of 12 stars was on her head. v2 She was going to have a baby. And she screamed because the pain hurt her very much.

v3 Then another surprise appeared in *heaven. It was a very big red animal like a snake. It had 7 heads and 10 *horns, and there was a *crown on each head. v4 His tail drew a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down on the earth. Then the big snake stood in front of the woman who was giving birth to the baby. He was waiting to eat her child as soon as it was born. v5 She gave birth to a son, who will rule all the countries with an iron stick. But someone quickly took her child up to God and to his *throne. v6 The woman ran away to a country place where nobody lives. God had prepared that place for her. He will feed her and keep her safe there for 1260 days.

v7 And there was a war in *heaven. Michael and his *angels fought against the big snake. And the big snake and his *angels fought back.

v8 But the big snake and his army did not win. They lost their place in *heaven. v9 Michael and his *angels threw the big snake out of *heaven. They threw him, and all his army of *angels, down to the earth. The name of that snake has always been the *Devil or *Satan. He always says what is not true. So, he causes the whole world to believe what is wrong. v10 Then I heard someone in *heaven say loudly:

‘Now God has caused his people to be safe and free!

God has shown his authority and power as King.

And his Christ has shown his authority.

They have thrown the *Devil out of *heaven!

The *Devil was the one who spoke against Christ’s servants.

And they are like our brothers and sisters.

He continued to say bad things to God about them,

he continued all day and all night.

v11 But our brothers and sisters beat him.

Because the *Lamb died and his blood came out.

They beat the *Devil because they spoke what is true.

They were ready to die.

They refused to stop saying what God has done for them.

v12 So be happy, everyone who lives in *heaven!

But you who live on the earth and the sea will have bad trouble.

The *Devil has come down to you now,

and he is very angry.

He knows that he has only a short time.’

v13 The big snake saw that they had thrown him down to the earth. So, he ran after the woman who had given birth to the baby boy. He wanted to cause trouble for her. v14 The woman received two *wings, like the *wings of a very big bird called an eagle. Then she could fly to her country place where she would be safe from the big snake. God will feed her and keep her safe there for a time, times and half a time.

v15 Then the big snake sent water out of his mouth like a river. He was behind the woman. He wanted the water to carry her away. v16 But the ground was a help to the woman, so a big hole opened in the ground. Then the river that had come from the big snake’s mouth went down into the hole. v17 The big snake was very angry with the woman. So he went away to fight a war against her other children and grandchildren. They are all the people who obey God’s rules. They are the people who go on believing Jesus.

Chapter 13

The strange animal from the sea

v1 And the big snake stood on the sea’s shore.

Then I saw a strange animal that was coming up out of the sea. The animal had 10 *horns and there was a *crown on each *horn. The animal also had 7 heads, and there was a bad name on each head. Those bad names were not polite to God. v2 The strange animal that I saw was like a leopard. But its feet were like a bear’s feet and its mouth was like a *lion’s mouth. The big red snake made the strange animal king in his place. The snake gave his own power and great authority to the strange animal.

v3 Someone had cut one of the strange animal’s heads. They had cut the animal so badly that it seemed to have died. But the strange animal had become well again and it was alive. This surprised all the people who were living on the earth. As a result, they thought that the strange animal was very great. They were ready to obey what it said. v4 People *worshipped the big snake because he had given his authority to the strange animal. They also *worshipped the strange animal. ‘Nobody is like the strange animal!’ they said. ‘Nobody can fight against him!’

v5 The strange animal could use its authority for 42 months. It could say how important it was. Also, it could speak very bad words against God. God let it have this authority. v6 So the strange animal began to say many false things about God and about God’s name. It spoke bad words about the place where God lives. And it spoke bad words about those who live in *heaven. v7 It received authority to fight a war against God’s own people. It had authority to beat them. It received authority against people from every family group, from every country and from every language. v8 Not every person who lives on earth has their name in God’s book. All those without their names in God’s book will *worship the strange animal. That book says who will live with God always. It is the *Lamb’s own book. From the beginning of the world, the *Lamb was ready to die and they killed him.

v9 Everyone who can understand should listen to these words:

v10 Anyone who must go to prison will go to prison.

If anyone kills another person with a *sword,

someone will kill him like that too.

This means that God’s people must go on being patient and strong. They must go on believing God.

The strange animal from the land

v11 Then I saw another strange animal that was coming up out of the land. It had two *horns like a *lamb’s *horns, but it spoke like the big snake. v12 It used all the authority of the first strange animal, on that animal’s behalf. It caused all the people on earth to *worship the first strange animal. Someone had cut the first strange animal so much that it should have died. But it became well again.

v13 The second strange animal did great things that surprised people. It even caused fire to come down from *heaven to the earth. And everybody who was living on the earth saw the fire. v14 They believed what is not true. They believed because they saw these great things. The second animal had authority to do these things on behalf of the first strange animal. It spoke to the people who were living on the earth. It told them to make a god. They must *worship this false god that was like the first strange animal. A *sword had cut that animal, but it was alive. v15 The second strange animal received power. So, it caused the false god to seem to be alive. Then the false god could speak. ‘Anyone who refuses to *worship me must die!’ it said.

v16 The second strange animal also caused everyone to receive a mark. They put the mark on their right hands or on the front of their heads. They put the mark on the powerful, important people and on the people who were not powerful. They put it on people who were rich or poor, or slaves or free people.

v17 Nobody could buy anything unless they had the mark. Nobody without the mark could sell anything. This mark is the first strange animal’s name or its number, which means the same as its name.

v18 Here is a problem that you must think about carefully. Anyone who is clever should try to understand the strange animal’s number. It is a human number. The number is 666.

Chapter 14

The *Lamb and the 144 000 people

v1 Then I looked again and there was the *Lamb. He was standing on Zion mountain and there were 144 000 people with him. Someone had written the *Lamb’s name and his Father’s name on the front of those people’s heads.

v2 And I heard a sound from *heaven like the sound of many rivers that were moving very fast. It was a very loud noise, as in a storm. The sound that I heard was like many people who were making music with *harps. v3 The 144 000 people were singing a new song in front of the *throne. They sang in front of the 4 *beings that were alive and in front of the leaders. Nobody could learn this song except these 144 000 people from the earth that God had saved.

v4 These people have kept themselves clean in their *spirits, like men who have not had sex with bad women. They are like people who have never had sex. These people follow the *Lamb everywhere that he goes. They are those that God saved from among all people. They are the first people to offer themselves to God and to the *Lamb. v5 These people never said anything that was not true. They have done nothing wrong.

The three *angels with messages

v6 Then I saw another *angel who was flying high in the sky. He brought God’s message of good news that is always true. He came to tell this news to everyone on the earth. He was telling it to people from every country, from every family group and from every language. v7 He spoke with a loud voice. ‘*Serve and obey God’, he said. ‘You should say how great God is. The time has come for him to decide about everyone on the earth. He will decide what is fair for them. *Worship him because he made the *heaven and the earth and the sea. He also made all the places where water comes up from the ground.’

v8 A second *angel followed the first one. ‘God has destroyed that powerful city Babylon’, he said. ‘That city is like a bad woman and God has destroyed her. She caused every country to do the bad things that she did. So, they do things that are against God’s rules. She enjoyed doing wrong things very much and all the countries have copied her. They are like people who all drink the same strong *wine. They are drunks.’

v9 A third *angel followed them and he spoke another message with a loud voice. ‘If anyone *worships the strange animal and its false god, God will be angry’, he said. ‘If anyone receives that animal’s mark on the front of their head or on their hand, God will be angry. v10 God will *punish all those people. They will be like people who must drink God’s *wine. But God’s *wine cup is full of very strong *wine. He has not mixed his *wine with any water, because he is very angry. God will cause those people to have very bad pain. Fire and *sulphur will burn them. God’s *angels and the *Lamb will watch them while they burn. v11 And the smoke will never stop rising while they burn. Because they *worship the strange animal and his false god, they will have no rest. They will have no rest during the day or during the night. Because they received the mark of the strange animal’s name, they will always have trouble.’

v12 This means that God’s people must go on being patient and strong. They must go on obeying God’s rules and they must go on believing in Jesus.

v13 Then I heard someone else speak from *heaven. ‘Write this down’, he said. ‘From this time, the *Lord’s own people who die will be very happy. Those people really believe the *Lord and they obey him’, he said. ‘Yes’, the Spirit answers, ‘they will rest from their work. And nobody will forget the good things that they have done.’

The earth’s *harvest

v14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud. Someone who was like a man was sitting on the cloud. He had a gold *crown on his head and a sharp tool in his hand. People use those tools to cut down plants in the fields. They cut down the plants when their seeds are ready. v15 Then another *angel came out from God’s house. He shouted with a loud voice to the person who was sitting on the cloud. ‘Use your sharp tool and start to work. It is time to bring in the *harvest. It is time now. You must cut down the plants and bring them in. Your *harvest on the earth is ready.’

v16 Then the person who sat on the cloud moved his sharp tool over the earth. And he brought in the earth’s *harvest.

v17 Another *angel came out from God’s house in *heaven. He also had a sharp tool in his hand. v18 Yet another *angel came from the special table where people offered gifts to God. This *angel had authority for the fire on the special table. And he shouted with a loud voice to the *angel with the sharp tool. ‘Use your sharp tool and cut the grapes from off the earth’s grapevine. The grapes are ready for you to bring in.’

v19 So the *angel moved his sharp tool over the earth and he cut the earth’s grapes. He threw the grapes into a very big hole where they make *wine. God was very angry with the *harvest of grapes. v20 The grapes were in the big hole outside the city. The *Lord Jesus walked on the grapes. Then blood came out of the hole. The blood rose as high as horses’ necks for as far as 300 kilometres.