1When 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 to them were given seven trumpets.
3Another angel, who had a golden
censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with
the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
4The smoke of the incense, together
with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand.
5Then the angel took the censer,
filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came
peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
6Then the seven angels who had
the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7The first angel sounded his
trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down
upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were
burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8The second angel sounded his
trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the
sea. A third of the sea turned into blood,
9a third of the living creatures in
the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10The third angel sounded his
trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third
of the rivers and on the springs of water—
11the name of the star is Wormwood
A third of the waters
turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.
12The fourth angel sounded his
trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of
the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without
light, and also a third of the night.
13As I watched, I heard an eagle
that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the
inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by
the other three angels!"