1 THEN I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals and I heard one of the living creatures say, as if with a voice of thunder, "Come."

2 I looked and there came a white horse, and he who was sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him and he went forth conquering and to conquer.

3 When he opened the second seal I heard the second living creature say, "Come."

4 Then another horse came out. It was fiery red, and to him who was sitting on it was granted to take peace from the earth so that men should kill one another, and a great sword was given to him.

5 When he opened the third seal I heard the third living creature say, "Come." I looked and there came a black horse, and he who was sitting on it had a pair of scales in his hand.

6 I heard what seemed a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A measure of wheat for a shilling and three measures of barley for a shilling. But do no harm to the oil or the wine."

7 When he opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come."

8 I looked and there came a pale yellow horse. The name of him who was sitting on it was Death, and Hades was following along with him. Authority was granted to them over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and with famine and with pestilence and with the wild beasts of the earth.

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the sake of God's message and because of the testimony which they had borne.

10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Ruler holy and true, wilt thou delay to judge and take vengeance for our blood upon those who dwell on the earth?"

11 To each of them a white robe was given, and it was said to them that they must wait quietly yet a little while until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren was complete, who were yet to be killed as they had been.

12 I saw when he opened the sixth seal and there came a great earthquake and the sun became black, like sackcloth of hair, and the moon became all like blood

13 and the stars of heaven fell to the ground, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a strong wind,

14 and the sky passed away like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the generals and the rich and the strong and every slave and freeman hid themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains

16 and said to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,

17 for the day, the great day, of their wrath has come and who can stand?"