The fifth trumpet
1 The fifth angel made a sound with his trumpet. Then I saw a star that had fallen down from the sky to the earth. Someone gave a key to that star. The key could open the entrance to the deep hole. 2 When the star opened the entrance, smoke came up out of the hole. It was like the smoke from a very big hot fire. The smoke caused the sun and the sky to become dark.
9:1The ‘deep hole’ is under the earth and it has no end. It is a prison that keeps bad spirits inside it.
3 Then locusts came out of the smoke and they came down on the earth. They received power to cause great pain, like the power of scorpions. 4 They knew that they must not do anything bad to the grass on the earth. They must not attack any plant or any tree. They could only attack people who did not have God's seal on the front of their heads. 5 The locusts did not have authority to kill those people. But they could cause them very bad pain for five months. Their pain was like the great pain from a scorpion when it hurts someone. 6 During that time of great pain, people will want to kill themselves. They will want to die, but they will not find any way to die.
7 The locusts were like horses that were ready to fight in a war. They wore something on their heads that seemed to be gold crowns. Their faces looked like human faces. 8 Their hair was like women's hair. Their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 They had shields over the front of their bodies, like shields made from iron. Their wings made a very loud noise. The sound was like many horses that are pulling chariots into a battle. 10 They had poison in their tails, like scorpions. They had power to attack people with their tails and to cause them pain for five months. 11 The king that ruled them was the angel of the deep hole. His name is ‘Abaddon’ in the Hebrew language. In the Greek language his name is ‘Apollyon’.
9:11These names both mean ‘someone who destroys things’. Abaddon means the devil.
12 The first great trouble has now finished. But after all these things, there are two more great troubles still to come.
