6
The Seven Seals
1 Then I
*saw the Lamb open one of the
†seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “
‡Come and see.”
2 And behold, there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow, and he was given a crown and went out conquering and to conquer.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “
§Come.”
4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people would slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “
*Come and see.” And behold, there was a black horse! Its rider had a balance scale in his hand.
6 Then I heard
†a voice from among the four living creatures saying, “A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius, and do not damage the oil and wine.”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard
‡the fourth living creature say, “
§Come and see.”
8 And behold, there was a pale green horse! The name of its rider was Death, and Hades followed him.
*He was given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill by the sword, by famine and pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of
†those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony
‡of the Lamb which they had upheld.
10 They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, O Master, Holy and True, will yoʋ not judge those who dwell on the earth and avenge our blood?”
11 They were each given a white robe and told to rest a
§while longer, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who were about to be killed just as they had been, should
*complete their course.
12 Then I watched as the Lamb opened the sixth
†seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as black as sackcloth made of goat hair, the
‡entire moon became like blood,
13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a strong wind.
14 The sky was split
§apart, being rolled up like a scroll, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the magnates, the
*commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and
†free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
16 And they said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
17 for the great day of
‡his wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”