Chapter 9

1The fifth angel sounded his Trump, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit. Very deep. Deeper than the swamp. Almost as deep.

2When he opened the bottomless pit, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the pit.

3And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. Locusts. Swarms of them. Like lobbyists.

4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only the people who didn't have the seal of God on their foreheads. Only the ones without the seal. The loyal ones were safe. Totally safe.

5They weren't allowed to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. Five months. Like a primary season. Very painful.

6During those days, people will look for death but won't find it. They'll long to die, but death will escape them. They'll want it over. It won't be over.

7The locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces looked like human faces. Gold crowns on locusts. Even the locusts have gold. Great taste, even in hell.

8Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. Long hair. Big teeth. Very scary combination.

9They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of a lot of horses and chariots rushing into battle. Loud. Very loud. Like a motorcade.

10They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.

11They had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon. Both names mean Destroyer. Two names. In two languages. Bilingual destroyer.

12The first disaster is past. Two other disasters are still coming. Two more. Stay tuned.

13The sixth angel sounded his Trump, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the gold altar that's in front of God.

14It said to the sixth angel who had the Trump, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

15And the four angels who'd been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. Ready for the exact hour. Perfect timing. Very well planned.

16The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. Two hundred million. Two hundred million troops. Biggest army in history. I heard the number myself. Nobody can dispute it.

17The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this. Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur. Red, blue, and yellow. Great colors. Very bold. Fire from the mouths. Like a great speech.

18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that came out of their mouths.

19The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails were like snakes, with heads they used to inflict injury. Snakes. Always snakes.

20The rest of mankind who weren't killed by these plagues still didn't turn away from the work of their hands. They didn't stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, idols that can't see or hear or walk. Cheap idols. Couldn't even walk. Couldn't give a speech. Total losers.

21And they didn't turn away from their murders, their magic arts, their sleeping around, or their thefts. Still didn't learn. Some people never learn. Never.