Revelation 6

¹ Then I saw the Lamb break one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four animals shout in a voice like thunder, ‘Come’.

² Immediately a white horse appeared, and the rider on it was holding a bow; he was given the victor’s crown and he went away, to go from victory to victory.

³ When he broke the second seal, I heard the second animal shout, ‘Come’.

⁴ And out came another horse, bright red, and its rider was given this duty: to take away peace from the earth and set people killing each other. He was given a huge sword.

⁵ When he broke the third seal, I heard the third animal shout, ‘Come’. Immediately a black horse appeared, and its rider was holding a pair of scales;

⁶ and I seemed to hear a voice shout from among the four animals and say, ‘A ration of corn for a day’s wages, and three rations of barley for a day’s wages, but do not tamper with the oil or the wine’.

⁷ When he broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth animal shout, ‘Come’.

⁸ Immediately another horse appeared, deathly pale, and its rider was called Plague, and Hades followed at his heels. They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague and wild beasts.[*a]

⁹ When he broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of all the people who had been killed on account of the word of God, for witnessing to it.

¹⁰ They shouted aloud, ‘Holy, faithful Master, how much longer will you wait before you pass sentence and take vengeance for our death on the inhabitants of the earth?’

¹¹ Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little longer, until the roll was complete and their fellow servants and brothers had been killed just as they had been.

¹² In my vision, when he broke the sixth seal, there was a violent earthquake and the sun went as black as coarse sackcloth; the moon turned red as blood all over,

¹³ and the stars of the sky fell[*b] on to the earth like figs dropping from a fig tree when a high wind shakes it;

¹⁴ the sky disappeared like a scroll rolling up and all the mountains and islands were shaken from their places.

¹⁵ Then all the earthly rulers, the governors and the commanders, the rich people and the men of influence, the whole population, slaves and citizens, took to the mountains to hide in caves and among the rocks.[*c]

¹⁶ They said to the mountains[*d] and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us away from the One who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb.

¹⁷ For the Great Day of his anger has come, and who can survive it?'[*e]