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The seven bowls with the seven last troubles

16 Then I heard a loud voice speak from God's house in heaven. It said to the seven angels, ‘Take your seven bowls that are full of God's anger. Go and pour them out on the earth.’

The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land. As a result, very bad and painful sores appeared on people's skin. Everyone who had the wild animal's mark on them and who worshipped the animal's image had those sores.

Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. As a result, the sea became like the blood of a dead person. Everything that was living in the sea then died.

Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and on the springs of water. As a result, all the water became blood.

Then I heard the voice of the angel who had authority over the waters. He said to God,

‘Holy One, you are alive now and you always have been alive.
You are right in everything that you decide.
Now you have judged these people.
They have killed your people and your prophets.
They have caused your servants to bleed and to die.
So now you have given these bad people blood to drink.
That is what ought to happen to them. It is right.’

Then I heard a voice from the altar in heaven. It said,

‘Yes, Lord God, you have all authority.
When you judge people, it is the punishment that they deserve.’

Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. God gave authority to the sun so that it burned people with fire. The strong heat burned people and it hurt them very much. As a result, they said bad things against God's name, because he had the power to cause these terrible troubles. But they refused to change how they lived. They refused to agree that God is great.

10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the wild animal. As a result, the whole kingdom that the wild animal ruled became dark. People were biting their tongues because of their great pain. 11 They cursed the God of heaven because of their pain and because of the sores on their skin. But they did not stop doing bad things.

12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates river. As a result, the river became dry. This prepared a way for kings from the east to march across it. 13 Then I saw three bad spirits that looked like frogs. One bad spirit came out of the dragon's mouth.[a] Another one came out of the first wild animal's mouth. The third one came out of the false prophet's mouth.[b] 14 Those bad spirits are the spirits of demons. They had the power to do miracles. They went to all the rulers in the whole world, to bring them together to fight in a big war. That war will happen on the great day of God, who has all power and authority.

15 The Lord says: ‘Listen! I will come secretly, like someone who robs people. If you continue to watch carefully, you will be happy. Keep your clothes with you all the time. Then, when I come, you will not be ashamed because you have no clothes.’[c]

16 Then the bad spirits brought the rulers together to fight in the big war. They came to the place that is called Armageddon in the Hebrew language.

17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. A voice spoke loudly from the throne in God's house. The voice said, ‘Now it has happened!’ 18 There was a great storm, with bright lightning and loud noises of thunder. The ground shook with a strong earthquake. The earthquake was stronger than anything that had happened since people first lived on the earth. 19 As a result, the great city of Babylon broke into three parts. When the ground shook, it also destroyed the big cities of other nations in the world. God did not forget the evil things that the people of the great city of Babylon had done. So they had to drink wine from the cup of God's great anger.

20 When the ground shook, every island in the sea disappeared. There were no more mountains anywhere. 21 Strong rain with stones of ice fell from the sky. The stones hit people and caused them great pain. The weight of each stone was about 50 kilograms. The people cursed God because the strong rain and the stones of ice caused them to have such terrible pain.[d]

Footnotes

  1. 16:13 We read about the dragon in Revelation 12:3,4.
  2. 16:13 The false prophet is probably the same as the second wild animal. See Revelation 13:16-18.
  3. 16:15 Jesus is telling his people that they must always be ready for him. He will return to this earth. He may come at any time, even at night. See 1 Thessalonians 5:2. Christians must not be like people who are asleep. People like that will not be ready to get up when he comes. Chapter 16 describes the last set of troubles before the end of the world. It is very important that Christians go on believing Jesus. They must be ready for him during this time.
  4. 16:21 The troubles that the seven bowls bring are the last troubles. They seem to be worse than the troubles that the seven seals or the seven trumpets bring. But the last bowl brings events like those events that come with the last trumpet. See Revelation 11:15-19. There is a great storm and the ground moves strongly. These events also happen after the last seal becomes open. See Revelation 8:5. So perhaps these verses are describing the same events in three different ways. Some people think that the events of the first six seals happen before the first six trumpets. After that, the events of the first six bowls happen. Then the last seal, the last trumpet and the last bowl may all show the same events.

The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple(A) saying to the seven angels,(B) “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”(C)

The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land,(D) and ugly, festering sores(E) broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.(F)

The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.(G)

The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water,(H) and they became blood.(I) Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:

“You are just in these judgments,(J) O Holy One,(K)
    you who are and who were;(L)
for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,(M)
    and you have given them blood to drink(N) as they deserve.”

And I heard the altar(O) respond:

“Yes, Lord God Almighty,(P)
    true and just are your judgments.”(Q)

The fourth angel(R) poured out his bowl on the sun,(S) and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire.(T) They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God,(U) who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent(V) and glorify him.(W)

10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast,(X) and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.(Y) People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed(Z) the God of heaven(AA) because of their pains and their sores,(AB) but they refused to repent of what they had done.(AC)

12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,(AD) and its water was dried up to prepare the way(AE) for the kings from the East.(AF) 13 Then I saw three impure spirits(AG) that looked like frogs;(AH) they came out of the mouth of the dragon,(AI) out of the mouth of the beast(AJ) and out of the mouth of the false prophet.(AK) 14 They are demonic spirits(AL) that perform signs,(AM) and they go out to the kings of the whole world,(AN) to gather them for the battle(AO) on the great day(AP) of God Almighty.

15 “Look, I come like a thief!(AQ) Blessed is the one who stays awake(AR) and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”(AS)

16 Then they gathered the kings together(AT) to the place that in Hebrew(AU) is called Armageddon.(AV)

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air,(AW) and out of the temple(AX) came a loud voice(AY) from the throne, saying, “It is done!”(AZ) 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder(BA) and a severe earthquake.(BB) No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth,(BC) so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city(BD) split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered(BE) Babylon the Great(BF) and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.(BG) 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.(BH) 21 From the sky huge hailstones,(BI) each weighing about a hundred pounds,[a] fell on people. And they cursed God(BJ) on account of the plague of hail,(BK) because the plague was so terrible.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 16:21 Or about 45 kilograms