Revelation 6

1Then I watched as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”

2I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider held a bow. He was given a crown, and he rode out conquering and to conquer.

3When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”

4Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another, and he was given a large sword.

5When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there was a black horse! Its rider held a pair of scales in his hand.

6And I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A measure of wheat for a denarius, and three measures of barley for a denarius, but do not harm the oil and the wine!”

7When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”

8I looked, and there was a pale horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind him. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and famine and plague and by the wild animals of the earth.

9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.

10They cried out in a loud voice, “How long, Master, holy and true, before you judge and avenge our blood on those who live on the earth?”

11Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed as they had been, was complete.

12Then I watched as he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood,

13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when it is shaken by a strong wind.

14The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

15Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.

16They said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,

17for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”