1: I watched while the Lamb ripped off the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the Animals roar, "Come out!"
2: I looked--I saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow and was given a victory garland. He rode off victorious, conquering right and left.
3: When the Lamb ripped off the second seal, I heard the second Animal cry, "Come out!"
4: Another horse appeared, this one red. Its rider was off to take peace from the earth, setting people at each other's throats, killing one another. He was given a huge sword.
5: When he ripped off the third seal, I heard the third Animal cry, "Come out!" I looked. A black horse this time. Its rider carried a set of scales in his hand.
6: I heard a message (it seemed to issue from the Four Animals): "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, or three quarts of barley, but all the oil and wine you want."
7: When he ripped off the fourth seal, I heard the fourth Animal cry, "Come out!"
8: I looked. A colorless horse, sickly pale. Its rider was Death, and Hell was close on its heels. They were given power to destroy a fourth of the earth by war, famine, disease, and wild beasts.
9: When he ripped off the fifth seal, I saw the souls of those killed because they had held firm in their witness to the Word of God. They were gathered under the Altar,
10: and cried out in loud prayers, "How long, Strong God, Holy and True? How long before you step in and avenge our murders?"
11: Then each martyr was given a white robe and told to sit back and wait until the full number of martyrs was filled from among their servant companions and friends in the faith.
12: I watched while he ripped off the sixth seal: a bone-jarring earthquake, sun turned black as ink, moon all bloody,
13: stars falling out of the sky like figs shaken from a tree in a high wind,
14: sky snapped shut like a book, islands and mountains sliding this way and that.
15: And then pandemonium, everyone and his dog running for cover--kings, princes, generals, rich and strong, along with every commoner, slave or free. They hid in mountain caves and rocky dens,
16: calling out to mountains and rocks, "Refuge! Hide us from the One Seated on the Throne and the wrath of the Lamb!
17: The great Day of their wrath has come--who can stand it?"