What this hexagram is about
Fire within the lake, water and fire quenching each other — the image of revolution, the casting off of the old. Change must follow Heaven and answer the people, seize the right moment, and be grounded in reason and trusted by the many — only so can it succeed.
The Judgment 卦辞
革，巳日乃孚，元亨利贞，悔亡。
Only when the day comes are you believed. Supreme success; favorable to persevere. Remorse fades.
The Image 大象传
《象》曰：泽中有火，革；君子以治历明时。
Fire within the lake, bringing change; so the noble person orders the calendar and makes the seasons clear.
Commentary on the Lines 小象传
巩用黄牛，不可以有为也。
Bound with the hide of a yellow ox — the time to act has not yet come.
The Six Lines (hover over the figure above)
Nine at the top君子豹变，小人革面，征凶，居贞吉。
The noble person changes as a leopard renews its spots — virtue refined to its finest; and the small-minded at least change their outward face and fall in with the new order; to march to war now brings misfortune, but to dwell quietly and hold to the right brings good fortune.
Nine in the fifth place大人虎变，未占有孚。
The great person changes as a tiger renews its stripes — its splendor fresh, its commands made clear; without need of divination, his sincerity already shines plain.
Six in the fourth place悔亡，有孚改命，吉。
Remorse fades; holding sincerity, one changes the old mandate — good fortune: following Heaven and answering the people, the course is set anew.
Nine in the third place征凶，贞厉，革言三就，有孚。
To press for change in haste brings misfortune if one goes forward, and danger if one merely clings; the proposal must be weighed and reweighed, brought round three times and trusted by all, before one may act.
Six in the second place己日乃革之，征吉，无咎。
Only when the day for change has come does one carry it through — moving after the moment has ripened; to go forward brings good fortune, and there is no fault.
Initial Nine巩用黄牛之革。
Bound fast with a cord of yellow oxhide, not yet to be stirred — at the outset of change, hold firm and bide the time.