1. When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky. The star was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
2. It opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and smoke came out of the shaft like the smoke from a large furnace. The smoke darkened the sun and the air.
3. Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth, and they were given power like the power of earthly scorpions.
4. They were told not to harm any grass, green plant, or tree on the earth. They could harm only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
5. They were not allowed to kill them. They were only allowed to torture them for five months. Their torture was like the pain of a scorpion’s sting.
6. At that time people will look for death and never find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.
7. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They seemed to have crowns that looked like gold on their heads. Their faces were like human faces.