for ever and ever!" 14 And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the elders fell down and worshipped. 6 1 Then I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals. And I heard one of the four living creatures say, as with a voice of thunder, "Come!" 2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. 3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 And out came a horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and to him was given a great sword. 5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come." And I looked, and behold, a black horse; and its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard what sounded like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine!" 7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" 8 I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and its rider's name was Death, and Hades was following him. And they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained; 10 they cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 Then each of them were given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be completed, who were to be killed as they had been. 12 I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the generals and the rich and the strong, and every one, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" 7 1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind would blow on the earth or the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascend