Revelation 9
New Testament · English Majority Text Version with Greek parallel
Revelation chapter 9 is given here in full, verse by verse, in the English Majority Text Version (EMTV), with the Byzantine Majority Text set beneath each verse. The text follows the Byzantine textual tradition used in the Orthodox Church.
1 patristic excerpt is attached to this chapter, from Victorinus of Pettau.
Revelation 9
1Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star having fallen out of heaven, to the earth. And the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit was given to him.Καὶ ὁ πέμπτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισε, καὶ εἶδον ἀστέρα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πεπτωκότα εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἡ κλεὶς τοῦ φρέατος τῆς ἀβύσσου.
2And he opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a burning furnace. And the sun was darkened, and the air, from the smoke of the shaft.καὶ ἤνοιξε τὸ φρέαρ τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ ἀνέβη καπνὸς ἐκ τοῦ φρέατος ὡς καπνὸς καμίνου καιομένης, καὶ ἐσκοτίσθη ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ ἐκ τοῦ καπνοῦ τοῦ φρέατος.
3Then out of the smoke came forth locusts to the earth. And power was given to them, as scorpions of the earth have power.καὶ ἐκ τοῦ καπνοῦ ἐξῆλθον ἀκρίδες εἰς τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐταῖς ἐξουσία ὡς ἔχουσιν ἐξουσίαν οἱ σκορπίοι τῆς γῆς.
4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, nor any plant, nor any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.καὶ ἐρρέθη αὐταῖς ἵνα μὴ ἀδικήσωσι τὸν χόρτον τῆς γῆς οὐδὲ πᾶν χλωρὸν οὐδὲ πᾶν δένδρον, εἰ μὴ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οἵτινες οὐκ ἔχουσι τὴν σφραγῖδα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων αὐτῶν.
5And they were not permitted to kill them, but that they should torment them for five months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man.καὶ ἐδόθη αὐταῖς ἵνα μὴ ἀποκτείνωσιν αὐτούς, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα βασανισθῶσι μῆνας πέντε, καὶ ὁ βασανισμὸς αὐτῶν ὡς βασανισμὸς σκορπίου ὅταν παίσῃ ἄνθρωπον.
6And in those days men shall seek death, and shall by no means find it; they shall be longing to die, yet death shall elude them.καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ζητήσουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὸν θάνατον καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρήσουσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἐπιθυμήσουσιν ἀποθανεῖν καὶ φεύξεται ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ὁ θάνατος.
7And the appearances of the locusts was similar to horses having been prepared for battle, and on their heads were like crowns of gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.Καὶ τὰ ὁμοιώματα τῶν ἀκρίδων ὅμοια ἵπποις ἡτοιμασμένοις εἰς πόλεμον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν ὡς στέφανοι χρυσοῖ, καὶ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὡς πρόσωπα ἀνθρώπων.
8They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions.καὶ εἶχον τρίχας ὡς τρίχας γυναικῶν, καὶ οἱ ὀδόντες αὐτῶν ὡς λεόντων ἦσαν.
9And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle.καὶ εἶχον θώρακας ὡς θώρακας σιδηροῦς, καὶ ἡ φωνὴ τῶν πτερύγων αὐτῶν ὡς φωνὴ ἁρμάτων ἵππων πολλῶν τρεχόντων εἰς πόλεμον.
10And they had tails like scorpions, and stings. And in their tails they have power to harm men five months,καὶ ἔχουσιν οὐρὰς ὁμοίας σκορπίοις καὶ κέντρα, καὶ ἐν ταῖς οὐραῖς αὐτῶν ἐξουσίαν ἔχουσι τοῦ ἀδικῆσαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους μῆνας πέντε,
11having as a king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.ἔχουσαι βασιλέα ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἄγγελον τῆς ἀβύσσου· ὄνομα αὐτῷ Ἑβραϊστὶ Ἀββαδών, ἐν δὲ τῇ Ἑλληνικῇ ὄνομα ἔχει Ἀπολλύων.
12One woe is past. Behold, yet two woes are coming after these things.Ἡ οὐαὶ ἡ μία ἀπῆλθεν. ἰδού, ἔρχεται ἔτι δύο οὐαὶ μετὰ ταῦτα.
13Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,Καὶ ὁ ἕκτος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισε, καὶ ἤκουσα φωνὴν μίαν ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ χρυσοῦ τοῦ ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ
14saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels having been bound at the great river Euphrates.”λέγοντος τῷ ἕκτῳ ἀγγέλῳ, ὁ ἔχων τὴν σάλπιγγα, Λῦσον τοὺς τέσσαρας ἀγγέλους τοὺς δεδεμένους ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ τῷ μεγάλῳ Εὐφράτῃ.
15So the four angels were released, who had been prepared for that very hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill a third of mankind.καὶ ἐλύθησαν οἱ τέσσαρες ἄγγελοι οἱ ἡτοιμασμένοι εἰς τὴν ὥραν καὶ εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ μῆνα καὶ ἐνιαυτόν, ἵνα ἀποκτείνωσι τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
16Now the number of the troops of the horsemen was a hundred million; I heard the number of them.καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν στρατευμάτων τοῦ ἵππου μυριάδες μυριάδων· ἤκουσα τὸν ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν.
17And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who rode on them, having breastplates of fire, hyacinth, and brimstone; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire, and smoke, and brimstone.καὶ οὕτως εἶδον τοὺς ἵππους ἐν τῇ ὁράσει καὶ τοὺς καθημένους ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν, ἔχοντας θώρακας πυρίνους καὶ ὑακινθίνους καὶ θειώδεις· καὶ αἱ κεφαλαὶ τῶν ἵππων ὡς κεφαλαὶ λεόντων, καὶ ἐκ τῶν στομάτων αὐτῶν ἐκπορεύεται πῦρ καὶ καπνὸς καὶ θεῖον.
18By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—from the fire and the smoke and the brimstone proceeding out of their mouths.ἀπὸ τῶν τριῶν πληγῶν τούτων ἀπεκτάνθησαν τὸ τρίτον τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τοῦ καπνοῦ καὶ τοῦ θείου τοῦ ἐκπορευομένου ἐκ τῶν στομάτων αὐτῶν.
19For the power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.ἡ γὰρ ἐξουσία τῶν ἵππων ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτῶν ἐστι καὶ ἐν ταῖς οὐραῖς αὐτῶν· αἱ γὰρ οὐραὶ αὐτῶν ὅμοιαι ὄφεων, ἔχουσαι κεφαλάς, καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ἀδικοῦσι.
20But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent from the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and of wood, which neither are able to see nor to hear nor to walk.Καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οἳ οὐκ ἀπεκτάνθησαν ἐν ταῖς πληγαῖς ταύταις, οὐ μετενόησαν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν, ἵνα μὴ προσκυνήσωσι τὰ δαιμόνια καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα τὰ χρυσᾶ καὶ τὰ ἀργυρᾶ καὶ τὰ χαλκᾶ καὶ τὰ λίθινα καὶ τὰ ξύλινα, ἃ οὔτε βλέπειν δύναται οὔτε ἀκούειν οὔτε περιπατεῖν·
21And they did not repent of their murders nor of their drugs nor of their sexual immorality nor of their thefts.καὶ οὐ μετενόησαν ἐκ τῶν φόνων αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῶν φαρμάκων αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῆς πορνείας αὐτῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῶν κλεμμάτων αὐτῶν.
The Fathers on Revelation 9
Victorinus of Pettau comments on this chapter. Each excerpt below is drawn from the full text held in the Fathers Library; follow the link on any entry to read the whole work.
On Revelation 9:13–14Open Revelation 9 in the interactive reader Switch translations, hear the chapter read aloud, tap any verse for its patristic commentary, and study the Greek word by word.Victorinus of Pettau13, 14. “And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is in the presence of God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels.”] That is, the four corners of the earth which hold the four winds. “Which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”] By the corners of the earth,...
Read Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John →