Bible In Poetry: Revelation 6 Poem by Dr John Celes

The Seals:

1As I was watching Lamb open
The first of seven seals, by then,
I heard one of the creatures four
Utter in voice like thunder, 'Come! '
2 I looked, and there before me stood
A horse, all white! rider with bow;
He was given a crown, and then,
He rode out like a conqueror,
With mind and heart, on conquest bent.
3When Lamb opened the second seal,
The second creature said then, 'Come! '
4 A fiery horse, all red came out!
And to its rider was given,
The pow’r to take off peace from earth,
And make men slay one another.
To him was given a large sword.
5When Lamb opened the third seal then,
I heard the third creature say, 'Come! '
I looked, and there before me stood
A horse, all black! Its rider held
A pair of scales in his one hand.
6And then, I heard a voice amongst
The four living creatures, saying,
'A quart of wheat for a day's wage;
Three quarts of barley, for a day's wage;
Do not damage the oil and wine! '
7When Lamb opened the fourth seal then,
I heard the fourth creature say, 'Come! '
8 I looked, and lo, before me stood,
A horse, all pale! rider named Death;
Hades followed him, closely behind.
They’ere given the power to kill,
Over a fourth of the earth’s men,
By sword, plague, famine, and wild beasts.
9 And when He opened the fifth seal,
I saw under the altar, souls
Of those, who had been slain because
Of testimony to God’s Word,
That they ‘ad maintained until their end.
10They all called out in loud a voice,
'How long, Lord, Sovereign, holy, true,
Until You judge the earth’s peoples,
Avenging blood of ours, they shed? '
11 Each one received a robe of white,
And told to wait a bit longer,
Until the number of fellow
Servants and brothers to be killed,
Was completed as expected.
12 And when He opened the sixth seal,
There was a great earthquake on earth.
The sun had turned so black, as if
It was a sack-cloth of goat-hair,
And moon in full had turned blood-red,
13 And stars from sky fell onto earth,
Like late figs dropping from fig-tree,
When shaken by a strong, fierce wind.
14 The sky then rolled up like a scroll,
And every mountain and island,
Was taken off its place on globe.
15The earth’s kings, princes and generals,
The rich, the mighty, and all slaves,
And every free man hid in caves,
And ’mongst the rocks of the mountains.
16They called the mountains and the rocks,
'Oh, fall on us and hide us please,
From face of Him, who sits on throne,
And from the wrath of Lamb of God!
17For, Day of wrath great has now come,
And who can ever, ever stand? '

Copyright by Dr John Celes 7-14-2007