« | Revelation 9 | » |
1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. It was given the key for the passage to the abyss.
2 It opened the passage to the abyss, and smoke came up out of the passage like smoke from a huge furnace. The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the passage.
3 Locusts came out of the smoke onto the land, and they were given the same power as scorpions of the earth.
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or any tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torment them for five months; the torment they inflicted was like that of a scorpion when it stings a person.
6 During that time these people will seek death but will not find it, and they will long to die but death will escape them.
7 The appearance of the locusts was like that of horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,
8 and they had hair like women's hair. Their teeth were like lions' teeth,
9 and they had chests like iron breastplates. The sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots racing into battle.
10 They had tails like scorpions, with stingers; with their tails they had power to harm people for five months.
11 They had as their king the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed, but there are two more to come.
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the (four) horns of the gold altar before God,
14 telling the sixth angel who held the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the banks of the great river Euphrates."
15 So the four angels were released, who were prepared for this hour, day, month, and year to kill a third of the human race.
16 The number of cavalry troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.
17 Now in my vision this is how I saw the horses and their riders. They wore red, blue, and yellow breastplates, and the horses' heads were like heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur.
18 By these three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that came out of their mouths a third of the human race was killed.
19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like snakes, with heads that inflict harm.
20 The rest of the human race, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, to give up the worship of demons and idols made from gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic potions, their unchastity, or their robberies.
The New American Standard Updated Version (NASU)
The New American Standard Updated Version (NASU) is a highly respected English translation of the Bible known for its rigorous adherence to the original languages of Scripture. First published in 1995 by the Lockman Foundation, the NASU is an update of the New American Standard Bible (NASB), which was originally completed in 1971. The NASU seeks to improve upon the NASB by enhancing readability and modernizing the language while maintaining the translation’s reputation for being one of the most literal translations available. This makes the NASU a preferred choice for serious Bible study, preaching, and teaching.
A key feature of the NASU is its commitment to formal equivalence, or a word-for-word translation philosophy. The translators aimed to produce a text that is as close as possible to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts. This approach ensures that the NASU captures the precise meaning and structure of the original texts, providing readers with a highly accurate and reliable representation of the Scriptures. The use of formal equivalence makes the NASU particularly valuable for those who desire a deep and detailed understanding of the Bible, including scholars, theologians, and students of the Word.
In updating the NASB, the NASU made several important changes to improve clarity and readability. While maintaining the accuracy and literalness of the translation, the NASU incorporates modern English expressions and smoother sentence structures. This makes the text more accessible to contemporary readers without compromising the precision that the NASB is known for. The NASU also includes updated cross-references and footnotes, which provide additional context and insights, further aiding in the study and understanding of the biblical text.
Despite its many strengths, the NASU has faced some criticism. Some readers and scholars argue that the translation’s emphasis on literalness can sometimes result in a text that feels stiff or less fluid than more dynamic translations. Additionally, while the NASU’s updated language makes it more accessible, some feel that it could go further in adapting to contemporary usage without losing its accuracy. Nevertheless, the New American Standard Updated Version remains a highly esteemed translation, valued for its fidelity to the original texts and its usefulness for in-depth study and precise interpretation of the Bible.