91 The fifth Angel trumpeted. I saw a Star plummet from Heaven to earth. The Star was handed a key to the Well of the Abyss. 2 He unlocked the Well of the Abyss - smoke poured out of the Well, billows and billows of smoke, sun and air in blackout from smoke pouring out of the Well. 3 Then out of the smoke crawled locusts with the venom of scorpions. 4 They were given their orders: "Don't hurt the grass, don't hurt anything green, don't hurt a single tree - only men and women, and then only those who lack the seal of God on their foreheads." 5 They were ordered to torture but not kill, torture them for five months, the pain like a scorpion sting. 6 When this happens, people are going to prefer death to torture, look for ways to kill themselves. But they won't find a way - death will have gone into hiding. 7 The locusts looked like horses ready for war. They had gold crowns, human faces, 8 women's hair, the teeth of lions, 9 and iron breastplates. The sound of their wings was the sound of horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. 10 Their tails were equipped with stings, like scorpion tails. With those tails they were ordered to torture the human race for five months. 11 They had a king over them, the Angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, in Greek, Apollyon - "Destroyer." 12 The first doom is past. Two dooms yet to come.
13 The sixth Angel trumpeted. I heard a voice speaking to the sixth Angel from the horns of the Golden Altar before God: 14 "Let the Four Angels loose, the Angels confined at the great River Euphrates." 15 The Four Angels were untied and let loose, Four Angels all prepared for the exact year, month, day, and even hour when they were to kill a third of the human race. 16 The number of the army of horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard the count 17 and saw both horses and riders in my vision: fiery breastplates on the riders, lion heads on the horses breathing out fire and smoke and brimstone. 18 With these three weapons - fire and smoke and brimstone - they killed a third of the human race. 19 The horses killed with their mouths and tails; their serpentlike tails also had heads that wreaked havoc. 20 The remaining men and women who weren't killed by these weapons went on their merry way - didn't change their way of life, didn't quit worshiping demons, didn't quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass, hunks of stone and wood that couldn't see or hear or move. 21 There wasn't a sign of a change of heart. They plunged right on in their murderous, occult, promiscuous, and thieving ways.
31 Write this to Sardis, to the Angel of the church. The One holding the Seven Spirits of God in one hand, a firm grip on the Seven Stars with the other, speaks: "I see right through your work. You have a reputation for vigor and zest, but you're dead, stone dead. 2 "Up on your feet! Take a deep breath! Maybe there's life in you yet. But I wouldn't know it by looking at your busywork; nothing of God's work has been completed. Your condition is desperate. 3 Think of the gift you once had in your hands, the Message you heard with your ears - grasp it again and turn back to God. "If you pull the covers back over your head and sleep on, oblivious to God, I'll return when you least expect it, break into your life like a thief in the night. 4 "You still have a few Christians in Sardis who haven't ruined themselves wallowing in the muck of the world's ways. They'll walk with me on parade! They've proved their worth! 5 "Conquerors will march in the victory parade, their names indelible in the Book of Life. I'll lead them up and present them by name to my Father and his Angels. 6 "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
7 Write this to Philadelphia, to the Angel of the church. The Holy, the True - David's key in his hand, opening doors no one can lock, locking doors no one can open - speaks: 8 "I see what you've done. Now see what I've done. I've opened a door before you that no one can slam shut. You don't have much strength, I know that; you used what you had to keep my Word. You didn't deny me when times were rough. 9 "And watch as I take those who call themselves true believers but are nothing of the kind, pretenders whose true membership is in the club of Satan - watch as I strip off their pretensions and they're forced to acknowledge it's you that I've loved. 10 "Because you kept my Word in passionate patience, I'll keep you safe in the time of testing that will be here soon, and all over the earth, every man, woman, and child put to the test. 11 "I'm on my way; I'll be there soon. Keep a tight grip on what you have so no one distracts you and steals your crown. 12 "I'll make each conqueror a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, a permanent position of honor. Then I'll write names on you, the pillars: the Name of my God, the Name of God's City - the new Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven - and my new Name. 13 "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
14 Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God's Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God's creation, says: 15 "I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot - far better to be either cold or hot! 16 You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. 17 You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless. 18 "Here's what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that's been through the refiner's fire. Then you'll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You've gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see. 19 "The people I love, I call to account - prod and correct and guide so that they'll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God! 20 "Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you. 21 Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That's my gift to the conquerors! 22 "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."
