13 Then the sixth messenger blew his trumpet and I heard a voice coming from the corners of the golden altar in front of God,[ref] 14 that was telling the sixth messenger (with the trumpet), “Release the four messengers that are tied up by the large Euphrates River.” 15 So the four messengers who had been prepared for this exact time were released to kill a third of humankind. 16 I heard someone say how many mounted soldiers there were—there were 200 million of them, 17 and this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: the soldiers wore chestplates that were red like fire, blue like sapphire, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and fumes of burning sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 These three plagues (fire, smoke, and burning sulfur coming out of their mouths) killed one third of humankind 19 because the horses’ power is in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails are like snakes, having heads that injure people.

20 However, the rest of humankind that hadn’t been killed by those plagues, didn’t repent of their actions and didn’t stop worshipping demons and idols made of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood—idols that can’t see, can’t hear, and can’t walk.[ref] 21 They also didn’t repent of their murdering or of their sorcery, nor of their sexual immorality or of their stealing.