6
“The Lamb Broke Open the First of the Seven Seals”
1 As I watched, the Lamb broke open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a thunderous voice, “Come!”
2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse, whose rider was holding a bow. The rider was given a victor’s crown, and he rode out as a victorious conqueror bent on further conquest.
3 When the Lamb broke open the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
4 At that, another horse, fiery red in color, came out. Its rider was assigned to remove peace from the earth and make people slay one another. He was given a mighty sword.
5 When the Lamb broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse, from the hand of whose rider was hanging a pair of scales.
6 Then I heard what sounded like a human voice speak from the area in the middle of the four living creatures. “A whole day’s wages for only a quart of wheat flour, and the same for a mere three quarts of barley flour,” the voice said. “ˢYou are not to damage, however, the olive trees and the vineyards.”
7 When the Lamb broke open the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”
8 I looked, and there before me was a pale green horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Sheol was accompanying him. They were given power over one-fourth of the earth, to kill its inhabitants by the sword and by famine and by plague and by wild animals.
9 When the Lamb broke open the fifth seal, I saw at the base of the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God and the testimony to which they had held fast.
10 They cried out, “How long will it be, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, before you vindicate and avenge us by punishing those on the earth who spilled our blood?”
11 Each of them was given a long white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the full number of their fellow servants and brothers and sisters who were destined to suffer a martyr’s death, just as they themselves had suffered one, had been reached.
12 As I watched, the Lamb broke open the sixth seal, and there was a violent earthquake. The sun became as black as sackcloth made of goat’s hair, the whole moon turned blood-red,
13 and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, like unripe figs being flung from the tree when it is shaken by a fierce wind.
14 The sky was split apart, each side rolling back like a scroll, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
15 The kings of the earth and the high officials and the military officers and the rich and the powerful and everyone else, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the mountain crags.
16 “Please protect us!” they called out to the mountains and to the crags. “Hide us from the judgment of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
17 For the Great Day of their wrath is here, and who can endure it?”