Book of Common Prayer

In the throne room

4 After this I looked—and there was a door in heaven, standing open! The voice like a trumpet, which I had heard speaking with me at the beginning, spoke again. “Come up here,” it said, “and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

² At once I was in the spirit. There in heaven stood a throne, and someone was sitting on it. ³ The seated figure had the appearance of a jasper stone or a carnelian, and there was a rainbow around the throne, looking like an emerald. ⁴ Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and sitting on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white robes, and with golden crowns on their heads. ⁵ Flashes of lightning, rumblings and thunderclaps were coming from the throne, and in front of the throne seven lampstands, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning with fire. ^6a In front of the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal.

Praise to the creator

^6b In the middle of the throne, and all around the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind. ⁷ The first creature was like a lion, the second creature was like an ox, the third creature had a human face, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each of the four creatures had six wings, and they were full of eyes all round and inside. Day and night they take no rest, as they say,

⁹ When the creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to the one who is sitting on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down in front of the one who is sitting on the throne, and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They throw down their crowns in front of the throne, saying, ¹¹ “O Lord our God, you deserve to receive glory and honor and power, because you created all things; they existed and were created because that is what you willed.”

The parable of the sower

13 That very day Jesus went out of the house and sat down beside the sea. ² Large crowds gathered around him, so he got into a boat and sat down. The whole crowd was standing on the shore.

³ He had much to say to them, and he said it all in parables.

“Listen!” he said. “Once there was a sower who went out to sow. ⁴ As he sowed, some seed fell beside the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some seed fell on rocky soil, where it didn’t have much earth. It sprang up at once because it had no depth of soil. ⁶ But when the sun was high it got scorched, and it withered because it didn’t have any root. ⁷ Other seed fell in among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. ⁸ Other seed fell into good soil, and produced a crop, some a hundred times over, some sixty, and some thirty times over. ⁹ If you’ve got ears, then listen!”