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The Heavenly Worship

After this I looked, and lo, in heaven an open door! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.[a] Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders,[b] clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures,[c] full of eyes in front and behind:

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Footnotes

  1. 4.3 John describes God in symbolic terms.
  2. 4.4 elders: They perform a priestly and royal task, since they praise God and share in the government of the world.
  3. 4.6 four living creatures: cf. Ezek 1.4-25: the four angels who preside over the government of the world. But in Chris tian tradition these symbols are used for the four evangelists.

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