They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months.
Parallel translations
- WEB They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months.
- KJV And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
- NKJV They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.
- NASB They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt people for five months.
- NLT They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Their scorpion tails can hurt people for five months. Their God-given power to torment is real but strictly bounded.
Overview
The sting in the tail repeats the scorpion imagery of verse 5 and again names the five-month limit. The repeated emphasis on a fixed period and on torment rather than death keeps the focus on restraint: even unleashed demonic power is leashed by God. This warning judgment is meant to drive sinners to repentance while time remains. It assures the reader that no affliction exceeds the limits the sovereign Lord sets.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Rev 9:5The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion.
- Rev 9:3And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.
- Rev 9:19For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; indeed, their tails were like snakes, having heads with which to inflict harm.
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 9:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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