Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

4 After this, I looked and saw a door open in heaven. I heard the same voice that I had heard before. It was like the sound of a horn or trumpet. It said, `Come up here. I will show you the things that must happen after this.'

² Right away, I was in the Spirit. I saw a throne or chief chair in heaven.

³ The one who sat on the throne looked very fine and bright. He looked like fine stones called jasper and carnelian. All around his chair was a rainbow that looked like a fine stone called emerald.

⁴ Around his throne I saw twenty-four other thrones. On them sat twenty-four leaders. They wore white clothes and had gold crowns on their heads.

⁵ From the throne came lightning, loud noises, and thunder. In front of the throne, seven bright lamps were burning. These lamps are the seven Spirits of God.

⁶ In front of the throne, it was like a sea of glass. It looked like a stone called crystal. Around the throne on the four sides of it were four living beings. They had many eyes in their faces and in their back.

⁷ The first living thing was like a lion. The second one was like a young cow. The third one had the face of a man. The fourth one was like a flying eagle.

⁸ Each of the four living beings had six wings. They had many eyes all over their bodies and under their wings. They say all the time, day and night: `Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God. He has all power. He always has lived. He lives now. And he always will live.'