1. The fifth angel blew his trumpet. Then I saw a star fall from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the deep hole that leads down to the bottomless pit.
2. Then the star opened the hole leading to the pit. Smoke came up from the hole like smoke from a big furnace. The sun and sky became dark because of the smoke from the hole.
3. Then locusts came out of the smoke and went down to the earth. They were given the power to sting like scorpions.
4. They were told not to damage the fields of grass or any plant or tree. They were to hurt only those who did not have God’s mark on their foreheads.
5. They were not given the power to kill them but only to cause them pain for five months—pain like a person feels when stung by a scorpion.
6. During those days people will look for a way to die, but they will not find it. They will want to die, but death will hide from them.
7. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something that looked like a gold crown. Their faces looked like human faces.
8. Their hair was like women’s hair. Their teeth were like lions’ teeth.
9. Their chests looked like iron breastplates. The sound their wings made was like the noise of many horses and chariots hurrying into battle.
10. The locusts had tails with stingers like scorpions. The power they had to give people pain for five months was in their tails.
11. They had a ruler, who was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon. In Greek it is Apollyon.