The Seven Seals

1Then I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “[†]Come.” 2Then I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out overcoming and to overcome.

3And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” 4And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sits on it, it was given to him to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.

5And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” Then I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sits on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “One [†]choinix of wheat for one [†]denarius, and three [†]choinix of barley for one [†]denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine.”

7And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” 8Then I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and he who sits on it had the name Death, and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with [†]pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

9And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the witness which they had maintained; 10and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Master, holy and true? [†]Will You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11And a white robe was given to each of them; and it was told to them that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.

12Then I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the [†]commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man HID THEMSELVES IN THE CAVES and among the rocks of the mountains; 16and they SAID TO THE MOUNTAINS AND TO THE ROCKS, “FALL ON US AND HIDE US from the [†]presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the [†]wrath of the Lamb, 17for the great DAY OF their [†]WRATH has come, and who is able to stand?”