Revelation 8
The Seventh Seal and the Gold Cup
1The Lamb opened the seventh seal. Then there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2I saw the seven angels who stand in front of God. Seven trumpets were given to them.
3Another angel came and stood at the altar. He had a shallow gold cup for burning incense. He was given a lot of incense to offer on the golden altar. The altar was in front of the throne. With the incense he offered the prayers of all God’s people. 4The smoke of the incense rose up from the angel’s hand. The prayers of God’s people rose up together with it. The smoke and the prayers went up in front of God. 5Then the angel took the gold cup and filled it with fire from the altar. He threw it down on the earth. There were rumblings and thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
The Trumpets
6Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets got ready to blow them.
7The first angel blew his trumpet. Hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up. A third of the trees were burned up. All the green grass was burned up.
8The second angel blew his trumpet. Something that looked like a huge mountain on fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood. 9A third of the living creatures in the sea died. A third of the ships were destroyed.
10The third angel blew his trumpet. Then a great star fell from the sky. It looked like a blazing torch. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the water turned bitter. Many people died from it.
12The fourth angel blew his trumpet. Then a third of the sun was struck. A third of the moon was struck. A third of the stars were struck. So a third of each of them turned dark. Then a third of the day had no light. The same thing happened to a third of the night.
13As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air. It called out in a loud voice, “How terrible! How terrible it will be for those living on the earth! How terrible! They will suffer as soon as the next three angels blow their trumpets!”