New Testament in a Year

Scene in Heaven

4 After this I looked, and behold, ^[a]a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a [war] trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” ² At once I was in [special communication with] the Spirit; and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne.^{(A) 3} And He who sat there appeared like [the crystalline sparkle of] ^[b]a jasper stone and [the fiery redness of] a sardius stone, and encircling the throne there was a rainbow that looked like [the color of an] emerald.^{(B) 4} Twenty-four [other] thrones surrounded the throne; and seated on these thrones were ^[c]twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing, with crowns of gold on their heads.

The Throne and Worship of the Creator

⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning and [rumbling] sounds and peals of thunder. Seven lamps of fire were burning in front of the throne, which are ^[d]the seven Spirits of God;^{(C) 6} and in front of the throne there was something like a sea or large expanse of glass, like [the clearest] crystal. In the center and around the throne were four living ^[e]creatures who were full of eyes in front and behind [seeing everything and knowing everything that is around them].^{(D) 7 [f]}The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf (ox), the third creature had the face of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.^{(E) 8} And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes all over and within [underneath their wings]; and day and night they never stop saying,

⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,^{(G) 10} the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever; and they throw down their crowns before the throne, saying,