Revelation 6

The Seven Seals

6 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” ² And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

³ When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

⁵ When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart^[a] of wheat for a denarius,^[b] and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

⁹ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. ¹⁰ They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers^[c] should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

¹² When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, ¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. ¹⁴ The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave^[d] and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Footnotes

1. Revelation 6:6 Greek choinix, a dry measure equal to about a quart
2. Revelation 6:6 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer
3. Revelation 6:11 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters
4. Revelation 6:15 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface

Amos 3-4

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

3 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

² “You only have I known
    of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
    for all your iniquities.

³ “Do two walk together,
    unless they have agreed to meet?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest,
    when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
    if he has taken nothing?
⁵ Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
    when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
    when it has taken nothing?
⁶ Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster come to a city,
    unless the Lord has done it?

⁷ “For the Lord God does nothing
    without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.
⁸ The lion has roared;
    who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
    who can but prophesy?”

⁹ Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
    and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
    and see the great tumults within her,
    and the oppressed in her midst.”
¹⁰ “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
    “those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”

¹¹ Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“An adversary shall surround the land
    and bring down^[a] your defenses from you,
    and your strongholds shall be plundered.”

¹² Thus says the Lord: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part^[b] of a bed.

¹³ “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,”
    declares the Lord God, the God of hosts,
¹⁴ “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
    I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
¹⁵ I will strike the winter house along with the summer house,
    and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses^[c] shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.

4 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
    who are on the mountain of Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
    who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
² The Lord God has sworn by his holiness
    that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
    even the last of you with fishhooks.
³ And you shall go out through the breaches,
    each one straight ahead;
    and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.

⁴ “Come to Bethel, and transgress;
    to Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every three days;
⁵ offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
    and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
    for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.

Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

⁶ “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
    and lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

⁷ “I also withheld the rain from you
    when there were yet three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city,
    and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
    and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
⁸ so two or three cities would wander to another city
    to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

⁹ “I struck you with blight and mildew;
    your many gardens and your vineyards,
    your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁰ “I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
    I killed your young men with the sword,
and carried away your horses,^[d]
    and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹¹ “I overthrew some of you,
    as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
    and you were as a brand^[e] plucked out of the burning;
yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹² “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
    because I will do this to you,
    prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

¹³ For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
    and declares to man what is his thought,
who makes the morning darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth—
    the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

Footnotes

1. Amos 3:11 Hebrew An adversary, one who surrounds the land—he shall bring down
2. Amos 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
3. Amos 3:15 Or and many houses
4. Amos 4:10 Hebrew along with the captivity of your horses
5. Amos 4:11 That is, a burning stick

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.