Revelation 9: the KJV and the Alternate Word Pictures from the Greek with Reiterations Translations

Revelation 9  

 ¹And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.    (KJV)
          (1)   And the 5th Angel trumpeted,

                  and behold, look and see:  

                  I saw a star / luminary out of heaven

                  having plummeted / fallen onto the Earth.

                  And was given - bestowed - entrusted to him

                  the key to the [dry] well / pit of the Abyss.    (AWPR)

 ²And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.   (KJV)
          (2)   And he open-opened the [dry] well / pit of the Abyss,
                 and ascended / went-up smoke out of the [dry] well / pit
                 like as smoke of a great furnace [barreling forth and upwards].

                 And the sun was deprived of light - being darkened,

                 and the air from out of the smoke of the pit.    (AWPR)



 ³And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.    (KJV)
          (3)   And out of the smoke came forth / proceeded

                  locusts into the Earth,

                  and was given - bestowed - entrusted to them

                  permission - authority - the removal of hindrance

                  as having - possessing

                  permission - authority - the removal of hindrance

                  (as) scorpions of the Earth.     (AWPR)

            
                             

 ⁴And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.     (KJV)
          (4)   And was definitively spoken - uttered -instructed to them

                 in order that they should not do wrong - hurt -damage  

                (to) the grass of the Earth,

                certainly not (to) every green thing, 

                certainly not every tree,

                except maybe/perhaps the men alone

                only (those) who certainly do NOT 

                 have -hold -possess the Seal that is impressed [as with a signet ring]
                 of GOD upon the foreheads / above the eye of them.     (AWPR)



 ⁵And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.    (KJV)
          (5)    And it was given - bestowed - entrusted to them

                   in order that they should not kill them,

                  but rather/ on the contrary  in order that

                  they should be tortured - punished - afflicted 

                  with (continual) physical pain 5 months,

                  and the torture -punishment -affliction of (continual) physical pain

                  of them as (the) torture - punishment - affliction of (continual) physical pain

                  of a scorpion when it strikes / stings a man.   (AWPR)

 ⁶And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.    (KJV)
          (6)   And in those days

                  men will seek after and strive to find death

                  and they certainly will NOT find it,

                  and they will have their affections - lusts - desires - longing to die,

                  and death will escape / flee from them.      (AWPR)



 ⁷And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.   (KJV)
          (7)   And the likeness - resemblance - shape of the locusts

                 just like - of the same kind in appearance as

                 horses having been made ready;

                 and upon the heads of them as crowns

                 just like - of the same kind in appearance as gold,

                 and the faces of them as the faces of men.        (AWPR)            
                     

 ⁸And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.    (KJV)
           (8)   And they possessed / had hairs as (the) [long] hairs of women,
                   and the teeth of them were as lions.    (AWPR)

  ⁹And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.    (KJV)
           (9)   And they possessed / had chest plates

                  as (if they were) chest plates of iron;

                  and the sound of the wings of them

                  (was) as the sound of many chariots of horses

                  running into hostilities / into war.    (AWPR)

 ¹⁰And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.    (KJV)
          (10)   And they possessed-had tails

                   just like - of the same appearance as Scorpions,

                   and the piercing pricks - piercing goads - puncturing stingers

                   were in the tails of them;

                   and the permission - liberty - power to do or not do   of them

                   to do wrong - hurt - harm - damage (to) men

                   (was for) 5 months.    (AWPR)
                 
  ¹¹And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.    (KJV)
             (11)  And they possessed - had a king over them,

                     the Angel of the Abyss:

                    (the) name to him in Hebrew, Abaddon;

                    and in the Greek (the) name he holds - possesses

                    is Apollyon.       (AWPR)


 ¹²One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.    (KJV)
           (12)  The first Woe - Calamity - Disaster

                    has withdrawn - departed - has gone away.

                    

                    Behold, look and see, (there) yet comes forth

                    two woes - calamities - disasters after these things.

                    (AWPR)

 ¹³And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,    (KJV)
          (13)  And the 6th Angel trumpeted:

                   and I heard a voice sounding,

                   one out of the 4 Horns of the Sacrificial Altar of gold 

                   in the face of - in the presence of - before GOD.     (AWPR)

 ¹⁴Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.     (KJV)
          (14)  saying / speaking to the 6th Angel

                   who holds - possesses - has the Trumpet,

                         'Unbind - untie - loose that which binds the 4 Angels,

                          those having been fastened - bound upon the river, 

                          the great Euphrates.'         (AWPR) 


 ¹⁵And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.    (KJV)
          (15)  And the 4 Angels were unbound - untied - unfastened - loosed,

                  those having been made ready - prepared for the hour and day

                  and month and year, 

                  in order that they should put to death the third of men / mankind. 
                  (AWPR)

 ¹⁶And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.    (KJV)
          (16)  And the number of the military soldiers of the Cavalry

                   two myriads of myriads / 200,000,000

                   and I heard the number of them.     (AWPR) 


 ¹⁷And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.    (KJV)
          (17)  And in this manner, behold, look and see;

                   I beheld the horses in the vision and those sitting down upon them,

                   holding - possessing - having chest plates glittering flaming fire

                   and deep blue / hyacinth and sulfurous flames with smoke;

                   and the heads of the horses as heads as heads of lions;

                   and out of the mouths of them proceeds - goes out - goes forth

                   fire and smoke and sulfurous flames with smoke.       (AWPR) 



 ¹⁸By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.    (KJV)
          (18)  Beneath - under the three (of) these were put to death 

                  the third of men / mankind

                  from the fire and from the smoke and from the sulfurous flames with smoke

                  proceeding - going out - going forth from the mouths of them.   (AWPR) 


 ¹⁹For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.     (KJV)
          (19)  For the removal of hindrance - permission - authority of them

                   is in the mouth of them,

                   and in the tails of them,

                   for the tails of them are one and the same as - of the same kind as - 

                   just like serpents/snakes

                   having / possessing heads,

                   and in them they do wrong - hurt - damage.     (AWPR) 
    

 ²⁰And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:    (KJV)
          (20)  And the rest of the men / of mankind

                   who were certainly not killed in the stroke - blow - plague - calamity,

                   these certainly repented not,

                   these certainly did not change their minds

                   of the works- performance - labors of their hands,

                   in order that they may not 

                   worship - give homage / respect - fall down before demons

                   and images / idols: 

                   gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood,

                   which certainly do not see nor are able - capable to hear, nor to walk;

                   (AWPR)

 ²¹Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.    (KJV)
          (21)  And they certainly repented NOT,

                  they certainly did NOT change their minds to turn from

                  the murders - slaughters - slayings of them,

                  nor of the sexual sins of them,

                  nor of their stealings / thefts.      (AWPR)
              

A Couple of my brief comments on Revelation 9:  

Note on verse 6 ff:     Verse 6 in light of this chapter and all that goes on,  is horrifying in some respects.  This verse reads  as if "Death takes a 5 month holiday" and creates a time of the when humanity will experience 5 months when there will be living dead or zombies of those who cannot die until a specified hour and day and month and year.   Because the locusts cannot feed on any green thing, or any tree, and the focus on their teeth as lions,  it seems to me that the locusts are permitted to feed off every human not having the seal of GOD in his forehead, and the humans suffering these attacks will be forced to live in such unbearable pain.  With certainty, the 144,000 of Revelation Chapter 7 are excluded, as also are the 2 Great Witnesses, whose arrival and ministry we shall see revealed in Revelation 11.   In effect, the horror movies that mockingly portray zombies with dead flesh and multi-pound chunks bitten out of them, might actually be ironically and horrifying accurate but for the lacking of  including the demon locusts from hell feeding off of them, tearing away those chunks of flesh.  Of those who loved zombie horror flicks and laughed while despising and rejecting Jesus, it seems at that time, it will be GOD’s time to laugh at them.   Hell is not a joke, and this Scripture was written to warn humanity that they might believe willingly into Jesus Christ now, and pass from Judgment into eternal life, and avoid such horror altogether, whether when they pass away, or in the Rapture.

 
Note on verse 17:   The ancient use of hyacinth refers to a  blue color.  Modern usage of hyacinth refers to reddish-orange and relabels it as jacinth.  I am keeping to the intent of the ancients and as it is written in the Koine Greek texts and the most likely color meant by John. He likely saw blued armored steel and machine gun fire.

Note on 21:  The Greek suggests that the thefts can also be applied to those who steal from corpses as well as from the living by stealth. 

 

 Disclaimer:  The Alternate Word Pictures with Reiterations (AWPR) translation should be used as a Bible Study Aid only, and it is recommended that a direct literal translation or the King James Bible be used for regular and ecclesiastical purposes, and that the AWPR be used in association only as a Bible study aid so as to help the reader / user in their Bible Studying to clarify context and Scriptural Intent.     Thanks.  -- Brianroy