New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Revelation 9
1
The 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 the Abyss.
Reference
2
When the star opened the Abyss, smoke rose up from it like the smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.
Reference
Darkness
Joel 2:10
Joel 2:2
Genesis 15:17
Parallel theme
Genesis 19:28
Isaiah 14:31
Acts 2:19
Joel 2:30
Revelation 14:11
Exodus 19:18
3
Out of the smoke came locusts. They settled down on the earth. They were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
Reference
4
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree. They were supposed to harm only the people who didn't have God's seal on their foreheads.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 9:4
Revelation 14:1
Revelation 6:6
Revelation 8:7
Exodus 12:23
Ezekiel 9:6
Psalm 76:10
Job 1:12
Job 1:10
References God
Ephesians 4:30
5
They were not allowed to kill them. But they could hurt them over and over for five months. The pain the people suffered was like the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man.
Reference
6
In 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.
Reference
7
The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces.
Reference
8
Their hair was like women's hair. Their teeth were like lions' teeth.
Reference
Parallel theme
Joel 1:6
9
Their 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.
10
They had tails and stings like scorpions. And in their tails they had power to hurt people over and over for five months.
Reference
11
Their king was the angel of the Abyss. In the Hebrew language his name is Abaddon. In Greek it is Apollyon.
Reference
People
12
The first terrible judgment is past. Two others are still coming.
Reference
Parallel theme
Revelation 11:14
13
The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the corners of the golden altar that stands in front of God.
14
The voice spoke to the sixth angel who had the trumpet. It said, "Set the four angels free who are held at the great river Euphrates."
Reference
15
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.
Reference
17
The horses and riders I saw in my vision had armor on their chests. It was flaming red, dark blue, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like lions' heads. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur.
Reference
18
A third of all people were killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of the horses' mouths.
Reference
19
The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. The tails were like snakes whose heads could bite.
Reference
20
The people who were not killed by these plagues still did not 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, which can't see or hear or walk.
Reference
Evil
Deuteronomy 31:29
1 Timothy 4:1
Psalm 106:37
Parallel theme
Acts 19:26
Acts 7:41
Acts 17:29
Jeremiah 5:3
Repentance
Revelation 9:21
Worship
Daniel 5:23
Jeremiah 1:16
Chapter Summary
Revelation 9 describes the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments, in which supernatural forces emerge from the abyss to torment those without God's seal and an enormous army brings death to a third of humanity, yet the survivors stubbornly refuse to repent of idolatry, violence, occult practices, sexual immorality, and theft, revealing the terrifying consequences of rebellion and the tragic persistence of human hardness even under severe judgment.
The chapter begins with the fifth trumpet, when a fallen star receives the key to the bottomless pit.
When the pit is opened, enormous smoke rises and darkens the sun and the air.
From the smoke come strange locust-like creatures with supernatural powers.
Unlike ordinary locusts, they are commanded not to destroy vegetation but to torment people who do not have God's seal.
Their victims suffer for five months, experiencing pain like the sting of a scorpion.
The suffering becomes so severe that people want to die but cannot find death.
John then gives an extraordinary description of the creatures, combining characteristics of horses, humans, lions, scorpions, and military forces to portray an overwhelming supernatural army.
Their ruler is identified as Abaddon or Apollyon, names associated with destruction.
This first judgment is called the first woe, while two additional woes remain.
The sixth trumpet then sounds, releasing four angels associated with the Euphrates River.
They lead an enormous mounted force, and a third of humanity is killed through fire, smoke, and sulfur.
The scale of the judgment is immense, yet it remains limited to a third of humanity, showing that the events occur within boundaries established by God.
The most striking conclusion is that the survivors do not repent.
Despite witnessing enormous destruction, they continue worshiping idols and persist in murder, occult practices, sexual immorality, and theft.
The chapter therefore presents judgment not only as punishment but also as a revelation of the hardness of the human heart, because even overwhelming consequences do not automatically produce repentance when people remain determined to reject God.
Revelation 9 shows that God's judgments can become terrifyingly severe while remaining under His control, yet even extraordinary suffering does not guarantee repentance, because humanity can remain deeply committed to idolatry, violence, occult practices, immorality, and theft, making the chapter both a warning about coming judgment and a powerful picture of the spiritual hardness that keeps people from turning back to God.
The chapter begins with the fifth trumpet, when a fallen star receives the key to the bottomless pit.
When the pit is opened, enormous smoke rises and darkens the sun and the air.
From the smoke come strange locust-like creatures with supernatural powers.
Unlike ordinary locusts, they are commanded not to destroy vegetation but to torment people who do not have God's seal.
Their victims suffer for five months, experiencing pain like the sting of a scorpion.
The suffering becomes so severe that people want to die but cannot find death.
John then gives an extraordinary description of the creatures, combining characteristics of horses, humans, lions, scorpions, and military forces to portray an overwhelming supernatural army.
Their ruler is identified as Abaddon or Apollyon, names associated with destruction.
This first judgment is called the first woe, while two additional woes remain.
The sixth trumpet then sounds, releasing four angels associated with the Euphrates River.
They lead an enormous mounted force, and a third of humanity is killed through fire, smoke, and sulfur.
The scale of the judgment is immense, yet it remains limited to a third of humanity, showing that the events occur within boundaries established by God.
The most striking conclusion is that the survivors do not repent.
Despite witnessing enormous destruction, they continue worshiping idols and persist in murder, occult practices, sexual immorality, and theft.
The chapter therefore presents judgment not only as punishment but also as a revelation of the hardness of the human heart, because even overwhelming consequences do not automatically produce repentance when people remain determined to reject God.
Revelation 9 shows that God's judgments can become terrifyingly severe while remaining under His control, yet even extraordinary suffering does not guarantee repentance, because humanity can remain deeply committed to idolatry, violence, occult practices, immorality, and theft, making the chapter both a warning about coming judgment and a powerful picture of the spiritual hardness that keeps people from turning back to God.