Passage

Revelation 9

Book: Revelation · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. 2. And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up 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. 3. And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4. And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. 5. And it was given them 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 it striketh a man. 6. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them. 7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as men's faces. 8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as teeth of lions. 9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to war. 10. And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months. 11. They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon. 12. The first Woe is past: behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter. 13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14. one saying to the sixth angel that had one trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates. 15. And the four angels were loosed, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men. 16. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: I heard the number of them. 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone. 18. By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. 19. For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads; and with them they hurt. 20. And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk: 21. and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." (Revelation 9:1-21, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. 2. He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit. 3. Then out of the smoke came locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4. They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads. 5. They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person. 6. In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them. 7. The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like golden crowns, and their faces were like people’s faces. 8. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like those of lions. 9. They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war. 10. They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months. 11. They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is “Abaddon”, but in Greek, he has the name “Apollyon”. 12. The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this. 13. The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14. saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!” 15. The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind. 16. The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them. 17. Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. 18. By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths. 19. For the power of the horses is in their mouths, and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them they harm. 20. The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can’t see, hear, or walk. 21. They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts." (Revelation 9:1-21, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. 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. 2. And 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. 3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4. And 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. 5. And 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. 6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 7. And 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. 8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9. And 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. 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 11. And 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. ^{Apollyon: that is to say, A destroyer} 12. One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. 13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14. Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15. And 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. ^{for an hour: or, at an hour} 16. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17. And 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. 18. By 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. 19. For 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. 20. And 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: 21. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." (Revelation 9:1-21, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And the fifth messenger did sound, and I saw a star out of the heaven having fallen to the earth, and there was given to it the key of the pit of the abyss, 2. and he did open the pit of the abyss, and there came up a smoke out of the pit as smoke of a great furnace, and darkened was the sun and the air, from the smoke of the pit. 3. And out of the smoke came forth locusts to the earth, and there was given to them authority, as scorpions of the earth have authority, 4. and it was said to them that they may not injure the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but, the men only who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads, 5. and it was given to them that they may not kill them, but that they may be tormented five months, and their torment [is] as the torment of a scorpion, when it may strike a man; 6. and in those days shall men seek the death, and they shall not find it, and they shall desire to die, and the death shall flee from them. 7. And the likenesses of the locusts [are] like to horses made ready to battle, and upon their heads as crowns like gold, and their faces as faces of men, 8. and they had hair as hair of women, and their teeth were as [those] of lions, 9. and they had breastplates as breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings [is] as the noise of chariots of many horses running to battle; 10. and they have tails like to scorpions, and stings were in their tails; and their authority [is] to injure men five months; 11. and they have over them a king, the messenger of the abyss, a name [is] to him in Hebrew, Abaddon, and in the Greek he hath a name, Apollyon. 12. The first woe did go forth, lo, there come yet two woes after these things. 13. And the sixth messenger did sound, and I heard a voice out of the four horns of the altar of gold that is before God, 14. saying to the sixth messenger who had the trumpet, 'Loose the four messengers who are bound at the great river Euphrates;' 15. and loosed were the four messengers, who have been made ready for the hour, and day, and month, and year, that they may kill the third of men; 16. and the number of the forces of the horsemen [is] two myriads of myriads, and I heard the number of them. 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those sitting upon them, having breastplates of fire, and jacinth, and brimstone; and the heads of the horses [are] as heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceedeth fire, and smoke, and brimstone; 18. by these three were the third of men killed, from the fire, and from the smoke, and from the brimstone, that is proceeding out of their mouth, 19. for their authorities are in their mouth, and in their tails, for their tails [are] like serpents, having heads, and with them they do injure; 20. and the rest of men, who were not killed in these plagues, neither did reform from the works of their hands, that they may not bow before the demons, and idols, those of gold, and those of silver, and those of brass, and those of stone, and those of wood, that are neither able to see, nor to hear, nor to walk, 21. yea they did not reform from their murders, nor from their sorceries, nor from their whoredoms, nor from their thefts." (Revelation 9:1-21, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

G932 - basileia

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.