1. WHEN HE [the Lamb] broke open the seventh seal, there was silence for about half an hour in heaven.
2. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
3. And another angel came and stood over the altar. He had a golden censer, and he was given very much incense (fragrant spices and gums which exhale perfume when burned), that he might mingle it with the prayers of all the people of God (the saints) upon the golden altar before the throne. [Ps. 141:2.]
4. And the smoke of the incense (the perfume) arose in the presence of God, with the prayers of the people of God (the saints), from the hand of the angel.
5. So the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and cast it upon the earth. Then there followed peals of thunder and loud rumblings and blasts and noises, and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. [Lev. 16:12; Ezek. 10:2.]
6. Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
7. The first angel blew [his] trumpet, and there was a storm of hail and fire mingled with blood cast upon the earth. And a third part of the earth was burned up and a third of the trees was burned up and all the green grass was burned up. [Exod. 9:23-25.]
8. The second angel blew [his] trumpet, and something resembling a great mountain, blazing with fire, was hurled into the sea. [Jer. 51:25.]
9. And a third of the sea was turned to blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea perished, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10. The third angel blew [his] trumpet, and a huge star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it dropped on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water–