1And I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, like the sound of thunder, “Come!”
2And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
3And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!”
4And another horse went out, fiery red, and to the one seated on it, it was given to him to take peace from the earth, so that they would slaughter one another; and a great sword was given to him.
5And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and the one seated on it had a balance-scale in his hand.
6And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm the oil and the wine.”
7And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come!”
8And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and the one seated upon it—his name was Death, and Hades was following with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with plague and by the wild beasts of the earth.
The Fifth Seal
9And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw beneath the altar the souls of those slaughtered on account of the word of God and on account of the testimony that they held.
10And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Sovereign Master, the holy and true one, will you not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?”
11And a white robe was given to each of them, and it was said to them that they should rest yet a little while, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers who were about to be killed, as they also had been, would be complete.
The Sixth Seal
12And I watched when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake occurred, and the sun became black like sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became like blood,
13and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind,
14and the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of their places.
15And the kings of the earth and the magnates and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
16and they say to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb,
17because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.
The First Four Seals
allusionEzekiel 14:21— The fourfold judgment of sword, famine, plague, and wild beasts mirrors Ezekiel's four severe judgments upon the land.
echoed inEzekiel 14:12— The fourfold judgment of sword, famine, wild beast, and plague parallels the powers given to death and Hades over a fourth of the earth.
echoed inRevelation 19:11— The rider on the white horse recalls the first seal's white horse, here identified as the conquering Christ.
allusionZechariah 6:1— The colored horses (white, red, black, pale) going out to the earth echo Zechariah's vision of four chariots with red, black, white, and dappled horses patrolling the earth.
allusionZechariah 1:8— Zechariah's vision of red, sorrel, and white horses is echoed in the sequence of colored horses of the seals.
The Fifth Seal
allusionPsalms 79:10— The martyrs' cry to avenge their blood echoes the psalmist's plea 'why should the nations say... avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.'
allusionZechariah 1:12— The 'How long' cry parallels the angel's question 'O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy?'
thematicHabakkuk 1:2— The martyrs' cry 'How long?' echoes the prophet's plea for God to act against violence and injustice.
thematicPsalms 79:5— Both cry out for God's vengeance for the outpoured blood of his servants.
thematicRevelation 16:1— The blood of saints and prophets being avenged answers the cry of the martyrs under the altar for judgment.
The Sixth Seal
parallelLuke 23:30— Jesus quotes the same Hosea saying 'Fall on us... Cover us' regarding coming judgment.
allusionHosea 10:8— The plea to mountains 'Fall on us' and to hills 'Cover us' is quoted from Hosea's oracle of judgment.
echoed inHosea 10:1— The cry to mountains and rocks to fall on and hide people from judgment echoes Hosea's words.
allusionIsaiah 13:10— The darkening of sun, moon, and stars is a standard Day-of-the-LORD image drawn from Isaiah's oracle against Babylon.
allusionIsaiah 34:4— The stars falling and the sky rolling up like a scroll directly draws on Isaiah's imagery of the host of heaven falling and the heavens rolled up.
allusionIsaiah 2:19— People hiding in caves and rocks from the terror of the LORD directly parallels Isaiah's Day of the LORD description.
echoed inIsaiah 2:6— The imagery of hiding in rocks from the terror and splendor of God's presence is echoed in the sixth seal.
echoed inIsaiah 13:1— Apocalyptic darkening of sun and falling of stars draws on this day-of-Yahweh cosmic imagery.
echoed inIsaiah 34:1— The heavens rolled up like a scroll and stars/host falling like withered figs from a fig tree is echoed in Revelation's cosmic upheaval.
allusionJoel 2:31— The sun turning dark and the moon becoming like blood before the great day of the LORD echoes Joel's cosmic signs.
allusionJoel 2:10— The earthquake with darkened heavenly bodies echoes Joel's description of the earth quaking and heavens trembling.
allusionJoel 2:11— 'The great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?' echoes Joel's 'the day of the LORD is great... who can endure it?'
echoed inJoel 2:28— Shared apocalyptic imagery of the sun turned dark and the moon becoming like blood.
echoed inLuke 23:26— Shared imagery of people begging mountains to fall on them in the day of judgment.
allusionMalachi 3:2— The question 'who is able to stand?' echoes Malachi's 'who can stand when he appears?'
echoed inMalachi 2:17— Echoes the question of who can stand on the day of divine wrath.
allusionMatthew 24:29— The falling stars and darkened sun/moon after tribulation parallel Jesus' Olivet discourse on cosmic upheaval.