Revelation 9

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

1The fifth angel blew his trumpet. I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the deep pit.

NoteThe KJV calls it "the bottomless pit." It means a very deep hole with no bottom, sometimes called the Abyss.

2And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

2The star opened the deep pit. Smoke came up out of it, like smoke from a huge fire oven. The smoke made the sun and the air go dark.

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

3Out of the smoke came locusts, which are bugs like grasshoppers. They landed on the earth. They were given power to sting like scorpions do.

4And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

4They were told not to hurt the grass, or any plant, or any tree. They could only hurt the people who did not have God's mark on their foreheads.

5And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

5The locusts were not allowed to kill those people. They could only hurt them for five months. The pain felt like the sting of a scorpion.

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

6In those days people will look for death and not find it. They will wish to die, but death will get away from them.

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

7The locusts looked like horses ready for a battle. On their heads was something like gold crowns. Their faces looked like the faces of people.

8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

8Their hair was long, like the hair of women. Their teeth were like the teeth of lions.

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

9They wore hard chest covers, like iron armor. Their wings sounded like many horses and carts rushing into battle.

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

10They had tails like scorpions, with stingers in them. With their tails they could hurt people for five months.

11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

11They had a king over them. He is the angel of the deep pit. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon. In Greek his name is Apollyon.

12One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

12That was the first big trouble, and it is over now. Look, two more big troubles are still coming.

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

13Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet. I heard a voice come from the four corner points of the gold altar that stands in front of God.

14Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

14The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Let go of the four angels who are tied up at the great river Euphrates."

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

15So the four angels were set free. They had been kept ready for this very hour, day, month, and year. They were to kill one third of all people.

16And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

16The soldiers riding on horses numbered two hundred million. I heard the number myself.

NoteThe KJV says "two hundred thousand thousand." That is an old way of writing two hundred million.

17And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

17This is how the horses and riders looked in what I saw. The riders wore chest covers colored like fire, like a blue jewel, and like yellow sulfur. The horses had heads like lions. Fire, smoke, and burning sulfur came out of their mouths.

Note"Brimstone" is an old word for sulfur, a yellow rock that burns. "Jacinth" is a blue-purple jewel, so the chest covers were red, blue, and yellow.

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

18One third of all people were killed by these three things. They were killed by the fire, the smoke, and the burning sulfur from the horses' mouths.

19For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

19The horses' power was in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails were like snakes, with heads that could bite and hurt people.

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

20The rest of the people were not killed by these terrible things. Even so, they did not turn away from the things they had made with their hands. They kept worshiping evil spirits and statues of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood. Those statues cannot see or hear or walk.

21Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

21They also did not turn away from killing people. They did not stop their magic spells, their wrong sex, or their stealing.