A Throne in Heaven
1After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. And the first voice I had heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on it. 3The one seated there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that looked like an emerald encircled the throne. 4Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on them sat twenty-four elders dressed in white, with golden crowns on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven flaming torches were burning, which are the seven Spirits of God, 6and before the throne was something like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the middle, around the throne, were four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and behind. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man’s, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. 8Each of the four living creatures had six wings, and was covered with eyes all around and inside. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” 9And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
