World English Bible · Under Rome
Revelation 9
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The fifth sounded, and I saw a star from which had fallen to the earth. The key to of the abyss was given to him. He opened of the abyss, and smoke went up out of , like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from . Then out of the smoke came on the earth, and was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have . They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don't have seal on their foreheads. They were given , not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a person. In those days people will seek , and will in no way find it. They will to , and will flee from them. The shapes of the were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like golden , and their faces were like people's faces. They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like those of lions. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron. The sound of their was like the sound of many chariots and horses rushing to war. They have tails like those of scorpions, with stingers. In their tails they have to harm men for five months. They have over them as king of the abyss. His name in is "", but in , he has the name "". The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this. The sixth sounded. I heard a voice from the of the golden which is before , saying to the sixth who had the , "Free the four who are bound at the great river !" The four were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind. The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them. Thus I saw the horses in the and those who sat on them, having breastplates of red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses' heads resembled lions' heads. Out of their mouths proceed , smoke, and sulfur. By these three plagues, one third of mankind was killed: by the , the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths. For the of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails are like , and have heads; and with them they harm. The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't of the works of their hands, that they wouldn't , and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can't see, hear, or walk. They didn't of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
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The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.