Revelation 9

1 And the fifth angel sounded; and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth; and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss; (Abyssos g12)

The fifth angel blew his trumpet. Then I saw [an evil angel. He was like] a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. He was given {[Someone] gave him} the key to the shaft [that descended] ([to] the underworld/[to] the deep dark pit). (Abyssos g12)

2 and he opened the pit of the abyss; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. (Abyssos g12)

When he opened that shaft, smoke arose from it like smoke from a huge burning furnace. The smoke prevented [anyone from seeing] the sky and the light of the sun. (Abyssos g12)

3 And out of the smoke there came locusts upon the earth; and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth. [They were given] {[God] gave them} power [to sting people], like scorpions [sting people].

4 And they were commanded not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but the men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

[God] told the locusts that they should not harm grass, nor any plants, nor any tree. [God said that they should harm only] those people who did not have a mark on the forehead [to show that they belonged to God].

5 And they were permitted, not to kill them, but to torment them five months; and the torment inflicted by them was like the torment inflicted by a scorpion, when he stings a man.

[God] did not allow the locusts to kill those people. Instead, [he] allowed them to continue torturing people for five months. When they tortured people, the pain those people felt was like the pain a scorpion causes when it stings someone.

6 And in those days men will seek for death, and shall not find it; and they will desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

During the time [when the locusts torture rebellious people, the pain will be so bad that] people will want to find a way to die, but they will not be able to [PRS].

7 And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were, as it were, crowns of gold; and their faces were like the faces of men.

The locusts looked like horses that are ready for battle. They had on their heads what looked like golden crowns. Their faces were like the faces of people.

8 And they had hair like the hair of women; and their teeth were like the teeth of lions.

They had [long] hair like the [long] hair of women. Their teeth were [strong], like lions’ teeth.

9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

They wore metal breastplates. [When they were flying], their wings made a noise like the roar when many horses [pull chariots as they are] rushing into battle.

10 And they had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and they had power to hurt men five months.

They had tails like scorpions have. With their tails they stung [people] for five months.

11 And they had over them a king, the angel of the abyss: his name, in Hebrew, is Abaddon, and, in Greek, he has the name Apollyon. (Abyssos g12)

The king who ruled over them was the angel of the underworld. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon. In the Greek language it is Apollyon. [Both of] those names [mean ‘Destroyer’]. (Abyssos g12)

12 The first woe is past: behold, there are coming, after this, two woes more.

That was the end of the first terrible event. [Be aware that] two tragic events are still to come.

13 And the sixth angel sounded: and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God,

The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice from the four corners of the golden altar that is in God’s presence.

14 saying to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet: Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates.

It was saying to the sixth angel, the one who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels whom [I] have bound at the great river Euphrates!”

15 And the four angels were loosed, who were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men.

The four angels were released, those who had been {[He] released the four angels, whom [God] had} kept ready for that [exact] hour of that day, of that month, of that year. They were released {[He] released them} in order that they might enable [their soldiers to] kill a third of the [rebellious] people.

16 And the number of the armies of horsemen was two myriads of myriads: I heard the number of them.

The number of the soldiers riding on horses who did that was 200 million. I heard [someone say] how many there were.

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them; they had breastplates, fiery, and hyacinthine, and sulphurous: and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

In the vision I saw what the horses and the [beings] that rode them looked like. They [wore] breastplates that were [red] like fire, [dusky blue] like smoke, and [yellow] like sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. From their mouths came fire, smoke, and [fumes of burning] sulfur.

18 By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone that issued out of their mouths.

Those three things—the fire, the smoke, and the [burning] sulfur from [the horses’] mouths—killed a third of the [rebellious] people.

19 For their power was in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails were like serpents, and had heads, and with them they do injury.

The horses had power with their mouths and with their tails. Their tails have heads like snakes by which they harm people.

20 And the rest of men that were not killed by these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they might not worship demons, and idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk;

The rest of the [rebellious] people, those who were not killed by these plagues of [fire and smoke and burning sulfur], did not turn from their sinful behavior. [They did not stop worshipping] the idols that they had made with their own hands. They did not stop worshipping demons and idols [that were made] of gold, of silver, of bronze, of stone, and of wood, [even though they are idols] that can neither see nor hear nor walk.

21 and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their lewdness, nor of their thefts.

They did not stop murdering people, or practicing sorcery, or acting in sexually immoral ways, or stealing [things].