The Lamb takes the scroll

5 Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one seated on the throne. It had writing on the front and the back, and it was sealed with seven seals. ² I saw a powerful angel, who proclaimed in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or look inside it. ⁴ So I began to weep and weep, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look inside it. ⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has emerged victorious so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then, in between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb, standing as if it had been slain. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are God’s seven spirits, sent out into the whole earth. ⁷ He came forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one seated on the throne. ⁸ When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each held a harp and gold bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ They took up a new song, saying,

Psalm 149

Jesus predicts Jerusalem’s destruction

⁴¹ As Jesus came to the city and observed it, he wept over it. ⁴² He said, “If only you knew on this of all days the things that lead to peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ The time will come when your enemies will build fortifications around you, encircle you, and attack you from all sides. ⁴⁴ They will crush you completely, you and the people within you. They won’t leave one stone on top of another within you, because you didn’t recognize the time of your gracious visit from God.”