Locusts come forth from the bottomless pit. The vision of the army of horsemen.

¹ And the fifth Angel sounded the trumpet. And I saw upon the earth, a star that had fallen from heaven, and the key to the well of the abyss was given to him.¹²³

1. 9:1Notice that the pluperfect tense is used, ‘had fallen.’ The fifth Angel is a holy angel, but when he sounds the trumpet, a key is given to a fallen angel to open the gates of Hell. It is surprising that a fallen angel has this role.(Conte)
2. 9:1A star full: This may mean the fall and apostasy of great and learned men from the true faith. Or a whole nation falling into error and separating from the church, not having the sign of God in their foreheads.(Challoner)
3. 9:1And there was given to him the key of the bottomless pit: That is, to the angel, not to the fallen star. To this angel was given the power, which is here signified by a key, of opening hell.(Challoner)

² And he opened the well of the abyss. And the smoke of the well ascended, like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were obscured by the smoke of the well.

³ And locusts went forth from the smoke of the well into the earth. And power was given to them, like the power that the scorpions of the earth have.¹

1. 9:3There came out locusts: These may be devils in Antichrist’s time, having the appearance of locusts, but large and monstrous, as here described. Or they may be real locusts, but of an extraordinary size and monstrous shape, such as were never before seen on earth, sent to torment those who have not the sign (or seal) of God on their foreheads. Some commentators by these locusts understand heretics, and especially those heretics, that sprung from Jews, and with them denied the divinity of Jesus Christ; as Theodotus, Praxeas, Noetus, Paul of Samosata, Sabellius, Arius, etc. These were great enemies of the Christian religion; they tormented and infected the souls of men, stinging them like scorpions, with the poison of their heresies. Others have explained these locusts, and other animals, mentioned in different places throughout this sacred and mystical book, in a most absurd, fanciful, and ridiculous manner; they make Abaddon the Pope, and the locusts to be friars mendicant, etc. Here it is thought proper, not to enter into any controversy upon that subject, as the inventors of these fancies have been already answered, and fully refuted by many controvertists: besides, those who might be inposed on by such chimerical writers, are in these days much better informed.(Challoner)

⁴ And it was commanded of them that they must not harm the plants of the earth, nor anything green, nor any tree, but only those men who do not have the Seal of God upon their foreheads.

⁵ And it was given to them that they would not kill them, but that they would torture them for five months. And their torture was like the torture of a scorpion, when he strikes a man.

⁶ And in those days, men will seek death and they will not find it. And they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.¹

1. 9:6The three woes are the fifth, sixth, and seventh Trumpets, each of which differs from the previous Trumpets and Seals because the woes are the result, not of natural disasters, nor of human actions, but of the intervention of God and of angels. Therefore, the fifth Trumpet is not the result of events of nature, nor of human endeavor.(Conte)

⁷ And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle. And upon their heads were something like crowns similar to gold. And their faces were like the faces of men.

⁸ And they had hair like the hair of women. And their teeth were like the teeth of lions.

⁹ And they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the noise of their wings was like the noise of many running horses, rushing to battle.

¹⁰ And they had tails similar to scorpions. And there were stingers in their tails, and these had the power to harm men for five months.

¹¹ And they had over them a king, the Angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Doom; in Greek, Destroyer; in Latin, Exterminator.¹

1. 9:11Notice how much more informative it is for the reader to have the translation of the words (Doom, Destroyer, Exterminator), rather than merely the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin names untranslated.(Conte)

¹² One woe has gone out, but behold, there are still two woes approaching afterward.

¹³ And the sixth Angel sounded the trumpet. And I heard a lone voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before the eyes of God,

¹⁴ saying to the sixth Angel who had the trumpet: “Release the four Angels who were bound at the great river Euphrates.”

¹⁵ And the four Angels were released, who had been prepared for that hour, and day, and month, and year, in order to kill one third part of men.

¹⁶ And the number of the army of horsemen was two hundred million. For I heard their number.

¹⁷ And I also saw the horses in the vision. And those who were sitting upon them had breastplates of fire and hyacinth and sulphur. And the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. And from their mouths proceeded fire and smoke and sulphur.

¹⁸ And one third part of men were slain by these three afflictions: by the fire and by the smoke and by the sulphur, which proceeded from their mouths.

¹⁹ For the power of these horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails resemble serpents, having heads; and it is with these that they cause harm.

²⁰ And the rest of men, who were not slain by these afflictions, did not repent from the works of their hands, so that they would not worship demons, or idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk.

²¹ And they did not repent from their murders, nor from their drugs, nor from their fornication, nor from their thefts.¹

1. 9:21The word ‘veneficiis’ refers to magic or sorcery, but it also refers to poison and to poisoned drinks (not necessarily poisoned unto death, but unto harm). This is a way of referring to immoral drugs (whether legal or not), including chemical contraceptives, recreational prescription drugs (such as those used for fornication), and illegal drugs that cause the user to become ‘high’.(Conte)