1. Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet. I saw a star which had fallen down to the earth, and it was given the key to the abyss.
2. The star opened the abyss, and smoke poured out of it, like the smoke from a large furnace; the sunlight and the air were darkened by the smoke from the abyss.
3. Locusts came down out of the smoke upon the earth, and they were given the same kind of power that scorpions have.
4. They were told not to harm the grass or the trees or any other plant; they could harm only the people who did not have the mark of God's seal on their foreheads.
5. The locusts were not allowed to kill these people, but only to torture them for five months. The pain caused by the torture is like the pain caused by a scorpion's sting.
6. During those five months they will seek death, but will not find it; they will want to die, but death will flee from them.
7. The locusts looked like horses ready for battle; on their heads they had what seemed to be crowns of gold, and their faces were like human faces.
8. Their hair was like women's hair, their teeth were like lions' teeth.
9. Their chests were covered with what looked like iron breastplates, and the sound made by their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle.
10. They have tails and stings like those of a scorpion, and it is with their tails that they have the power to hurt people for five months.