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Revelation 9 · a question people ask

"The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands" (9:20). Why didn't they repent?

In the text

9:20-21 answer by naming what they didn't repent of. 9:20: they "didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can’t see, hear, or walk." (9:20). 9:21: "They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts." (9:21). Beyond what these two verses name, the chapter gives no reason, and these notes add none.

The verses

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can’t see, hear, or walk. They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.”
Revelation 9:20-21 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Revelation 9

Revelation 9: Out of the smoke

Out of the smoke came locusts, and power was given to them, "as the scorpions of the earth have power" (9:3).

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Last reviewed October 12, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions