The First Bowl
1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, w “Go and pour out the seven bowls x of God’s wrath on the earth.” 2 The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores y broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.
The Second Bowl
3 The second poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like that of a dead person, and all life in the sea died. z
The Third Bowl
4 The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. a 5 I heard the angel of the waters say,
You are just,
the Holy One, b who is and who was, c
because you have passed judgment on these things.
6 Because they poured out
the blood of the saints and the prophets, d
you have given them blood to drink;
they deserve it! e
7 I heard the altar say,
Yes, Lord God, the Almighty,
true and just are your judgments. f
The Fourth Bowl
8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun. It was allowed to scorch people with fire, 9 and people were scorched by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God, g who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory. h
The Fifth Bowl
10 The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, i and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. j People gnawed their tongues because of their pain 11 and blasphemed the God of heaven k because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.
The Sixth Bowl
12 The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, l and its water was dried up m to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs n coming from the dragon’s mouth, o from the beast’s mouth, p and from the mouth of the false prophet. q 14 For they are demonic spirits performing signs, r who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them s for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty. t 15 “Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed u is the one who is alert and remains clothed ,v so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.” w 16 So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. ,x
The Seventh Bowl
17 Then the seventh poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple ,y from the throne, saying, “It is done! ” 18 There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since people have been on the earth, so great was the quake. z 19 The great city a split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger. b 20 Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared. c 21 Enormous hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God d for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe. e
16:1–2. The seven bowls of God’s wrath are poured out at the command of a loud voice from the inner sanctuary of the temple (16:1). This is God’s voice (cf. Is 66:6) issuing commands to the seven angels from the throne room. The key to understanding the bowls is the principle of lex talionis (the law of retribution), illustrated in Jr 14:16. As the unrepentant are heading to their final destiny, they begin to reap the same sins that they have sown in others. The first libation bowl that is poured out inflicts “severely painful” sores on the earth’s inhabitants (16:2). It is reminiscent of the sixth Egyptian plague, which unleashed boils on the Egyptians and their livestock (Ex 9:8–12) but not on the Israelites. Here the sores torment only those who receive the mark of the beast. There is a wordplay in the Greek: “severely painful” can also be translated as “bad and evil” sores. These are spiritual wounds that disfigure, scar, and bring unbearable pain on the souls of all idolaters, who worship false images (9:1–12; cf. Dt 28:1–68).
16:3. The second (16:3) and third bowls (16:4–7) intensify the first Egyptian plague, which turned the Nile into blood, made it undrinkable, and killed the fish within it (Ex 7:17–21). Here the second bowl turns the entire sea into blood, and every living sea creature dies from its polluted waters. The added detail that the blood is “like that of a dead person” reminds the readers that sin not only torments; sin kills and leads to both physical and spiritual death (cf. Rv 20:14; 21:8; Rm 5:12–20; 6:23).
16:4–7. The third bowl continues the plague so that it transforms the rivers and springs of (living) water into dead cesspools of blood (16:4). The vision inspires a heavenly hymn from the angel of the waters (cf. Gn 7:17–24), reminding that despite the severity of the judgments, God is just (16:5). His ways, though mysterious at times, are true (cf. 15:3; 19:2; Dn 4:37). It is only fitting that those who spilled the blood of God’s saints receive, in turn, a judgment of blood (16:6). With the choir from the altar (composed of the martyrs in 6:9–11), the readers are asked to trust in God’s promises and sing with them (16:7).
16:8–9. The fourth bowl unleashes a plague on the sun and scorches the earth with fire (16:8–9a). This is a reversal of the ninth Egyptian plague, darkness (Ex 10:21–29). Here the bowl plague intensifies the sun rather than blots it out. Again, the law of retribution is at work: the Roman Empire, whose military conquests left burned lands and devastation in their wake, is now experiencing the fires of war and violence within its own borders (Rv 8:7). Yet despite the severity of the plague, humanity is unrepentant and hard of heart (16:9b), like Pharaoh (Ex 7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7).
16:10–11. The more intense the judgment, the more humanity seems to clench a defiant fist at God. With the fifth bowl comes a plague of darkness, which is reminiscent of both the Egyptian equivalent (Ex 10:21–29) and the eighth plague, which sent a blanket of locusts to blacken the land (Ex 10:12–20). This is a spiritual darkness inflicting agony to the point where people bite their tongues desperately (16:10; cf. gnashing of teeth in Mt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). Sin has the power to blind, dull, and blacken the soul. Since the throne of the beast, that is, the imperial cult (cf. the throne of Satan in Rv 2:13) darkened people’s hearts, God rightly brings a judgment of darkness on Rome. Ironically, the wicked blame God for their suffering, although their own idolatry is the cause (16:11).
16:12–16. The sixth bowl features unclean, foul-spirited, demonic frogs, which protrude from the mouths of the anti-Trinity: the dragon, the beast (of the sea), and the false prophet (16:12–13). Intensifying the second Egyptian plague of frogs (Ex 8:1–15), the demonic frogs of Revelation are heralds of false ideologies and lies (e.g., the pax Romana). These false powers can duplicate the miraculous (cf. Ex 7:11, 22), but their primary weapon of choice is deception (16:14). Fooled by evil, the kings of earth align themselves with the beast to their own destruction.
16:17–21. The seventh bowl is an intensification of the seventh Egyptian plague, thunder and hail (Ex 9:22–26). These hailstones are gigantic and weigh a talent each (about one hundred pounds, 16:21). A tremendous earthquake (16:18b–19) splits Babylon into three parts. There is no place where anyone can hide. God’s epiphany is a recapitulation of the Sinai theophany (16:18a; cf. Ex 19:16–25). Just by showing up, God has passed judgment. No sinner can stand in his presence. God’s voice from the throne room of the temple cries out, “It is done!” (16:17). At last God exacts justice, but with a finality that is both welcoming and terrifying at the same time.