Revelation 16:21
What does Revelation 16:21 mean?
A plain-English look at Revelation 16:21 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Revelation 16:21 means
Enormous hailstones, each about the weight of a talent, crash down from heaven upon people. The scale of the hail makes it a deadly, inescapable blow. Yet even under this “exceeding great” plague, people blaspheme God rather than turn to Him. The repetition is sobering: severity increases, but rebellion deepens. The judgment is both punitive and revealing; it exposes hearts that will neither seek mercy nor submit to truth. The scene ends not with human triumph or reform, but with God’s justice displayed and human hardness laid bare—a fitting close to the bowls, which have shown wrath completed and impenitence confirmed.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And great drops of ice, every one about the weight of a talent, came down out of heaven on men: and men said evil things against God because of the punishment of the ice-drops; for it is very great.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862and great hail (as of talent weight) doth come down out of the heaven upon men, and men did speak evil of God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague is very great.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752And great hail, like a talent, came down from heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God, for the plague of the hail: because it was exceeding great.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890and a great hail, as of a talent weight, comes down out of the heaven upon men; and men blasphemedGod because of the plague of hail, for the plague of it is exceeding great.
Context
This final verse seals the seventh bowl’s effects with another Exodus-like plague and the familiar response of blasphemy. Across the chapter, the pattern is consistent: targeted judgment, widening devastation, explicit heavenly affirmation of righteousness, preparation for the final conflict, and then comprehensive upheaval. Revelation 16 thus completes the series of bowls, demonstrating that God’s wrath is finished and the world’s opposition is undiminished, setting the stage for the portrayal of Babylon’s fall and the Lord’s ultimate victory.
v.20And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
v.21This passage
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Revelation 16:9
And men were scorched with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God who hath the power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory.
- Ezekiel 38:21
And I will call for a sword against him unto all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
- Revelation 16:11
and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works.
- Revelation 8:7
And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
- Revelation 11:19
And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant; and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail.
- Exodus 9:23
And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth; and Jehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
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