Daily Text and Bible Reading: Saturday, December 28 [Press play below]

5.1 And I saw in the right hand of the One seated on the throne a scroll written on both sides, sealed tight with seven seals.
5.2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”
5.3 But no one in heaven or on earth or underneath the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it.
5.4 I gave way to a great deal of weeping because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
5.5 But one of the elders said to me: “Stop weeping. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so as to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
5.6 And I saw standing in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a lamb that seemed to have been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, and the eyes mean the seven spirits of God that have been sent out into the whole earth.
5.7 At once he came forward and took it out of the right hand of the One seated on the throne.
5.8 When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, and each one had a harp and golden bowls that were full of incense. (The incense means the prayers of the holy ones.)
5.9 And they sing a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slaughtered and with your blood you bought people for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
5.10 and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.”
5.11 And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,
5.12 and they were saying with a loud voice: “The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”
5.13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and underneath the earth and on the sea, and all the things in them, saying: “To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.”
5.14 The four living creatures were saying: “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped.
6.1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder: “Come!”
6.2 And I saw, and look! a white horse, and the one seated on it had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went out conquering and to complete his conquest.
6.3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say: “Come!”
6.4 Another came out, a fiery-colored horse, and it was granted to the one seated on it to take peace away from the earth so that they should slaughter one another, and he was given a great sword.
6.5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say: “Come!” And I saw, and look! a black horse, and the one seated on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
6.6 I heard what sounded like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say: “A quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the olive oil and the wine.”
6.7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say: “Come!”
6.8 And I saw, and look! a pale horse, and the one seated on it had the name Death. And the Grave was closely following him. And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.
6.9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the witness they had given.
6.10 They shouted with a loud voice, saying: “Until when, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, are you refraining from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
6.11 And a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer, until the number was filled of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were about to be killed as they had been.
6.12 And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake occurred; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the entire moon became as blood,
6.13 and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as when a fig tree shaken by a high wind drops its unripe figs.
6.14 And the heaven departed as a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and every island was removed from its place.
6.15 Then the kings of the earth, the high officials, the military commanders, the rich, the strong, every slave, and every free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
6.16 And they keep saying to the mountains and to the rocks: “Fall over us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
6.17 because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
7.1 After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding tight the four winds of the earth, so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.
7.2 And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise, having a seal of the living God; and he called with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,
7.3 saying: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the slaves of our God in their foreheads.”
7.4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel:
7.5 Out of the tribe of Judah 12,000 sealed; out of the tribe of Reuben 12,000; out of the tribe of Gad 12,000;
7.6 out of the tribe of Asher 12,000; out of the tribe of Naphtali 12,000; out of the tribe of Manasseh 12,000;
7.7 out of the tribe of Simeon 12,000; out of the tribe of Levi 12,000; out of the tribe of Issachar 12,000;
7.8 out of the tribe of Zebulun 12,000; out of the tribe of Joseph 12,000; out of the tribe of Benjamin 12,000 sealed.
7.9 After this I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands.
7.10 And they keep shouting with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
7.11 All the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God,
7.12 saying: “Amen! Let the praise and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
7.13 In response one of the elders said to me: “These who are dressed in the white robes, who are they and where did they come from?”
7.14 So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
7.15 That is why they are before the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them.
7.16 They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down on them nor any scorching heat,
7.17 because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them and will guide them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”
8.1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
8.2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
8.3 Another angel, holding a golden incense vessel, arrived and stood at the altar, and a large quantity of incense was given him to offer it with the prayers of all the holy ones on the golden altar that was before the throne.
8.4 The smoke of the incense from the hand of the angel ascended with the prayers of the holy ones before God.
8.5 But right away the angel took the incense vessel, and he filled it with some of the fire of the altar and hurled it to the earth. And there were thunders and voices and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
8.6 And the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
8.7 The first one blew his trumpet. And there was hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green vegetation was burned up.
8.8 The second angel blew his trumpet. And something like a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea. And a third of the sea became blood;
8.9 and a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were wrecked.
8.10 The third angel blew his trumpet. And a great star burning like a lamp fell from heaven, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters.
8.11 The name of the star is Wormwood. And a third of the waters turned into wormwood, and many of the people died from the waters, because these had been made bitter.
8.12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet. And a third of the sun was struck and a third of the moon and a third of the stars, in order that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not have light for a third of it, and the night likewise.
8.13 And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven say with a loud voice: “Woe, woe, woe to those dwelling on the earth because of the rest of the trumpet blasts of the three angels who are about to blow their trumpets!”
9.1 The fifth angel blew his trumpet. And I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key to the shaft of the abyss was given to him.
9.2 He opened the shaft of the abyss, and smoke ascended out of the shaft like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun was darkened, also the air, by the smoke of the shaft.
9.3 And locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth, and authority was given to them, the same authority that the scorpions of the earth have.
9.4 They were told not to harm the vegetation of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
9.5 And it was granted the locusts, not to kill them, but to torment them five months, and their torment was like torment by a scorpion when it strikes a person.
9.6 In those days people will seek death but will by no means find it, and they will long to die, but death will flee from them.
9.7 And in appearance the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle; on their heads were what seemed to be crowns of gold, and their faces were like human faces,
9.8 but they had hair like women’s hair. And their teeth were like those of lions,
9.9 and they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the sound of their wings was like the sound of horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.
9.10 Also, they have tails with stingers like scorpions, and in their tails is their authority to hurt the people for five months.
9.11 They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
9.12 The one woe is past. Look! Two more woes are coming after these things.
9.13 The sixth angel blew his trumpet. And I heard one voice from the horns of the golden altar that is before God
9.14 say to the sixth angel who had the trumpet: “Untie the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
9.15 And the four angels who have been prepared for the hour and day and month and year were untied to kill a third of the people.
9.16 The number of the armies of cavalry was two myriads of myriads; I heard the number of them.
9.17 And this is how I saw the horses in the vision and those seated on them: They had fire-red and hyacinth-blue and sulfur-yellow breastplates, and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.
9.18 A third of the people were killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the sulfur that came out of their mouths.
9.19 For the authority of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with these they inflict harm.
9.20 But the rest of the people who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands; they did not stop worshipping the demons and the idols of gold and silver and copper and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
9.21 And they did not repent of their murders nor of their spiritistic practices nor of their sexual immorality nor of their thefts.