The Throne in Heaven

4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me ^(A)like a trumpet, said, ^(B)“Come up here, and ^(C)I will show you what must take place after this.” ² At once ^(D)I was in the Spirit, and behold, ^(E)a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. ³ And he who sat there had the appearance of ^(F)jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was ^(G)a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. ⁴ Around the throne were ^(H)twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, ^(I)clothed in white garments, with ^(J)golden crowns on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came ^(K)flashes of lightning, and rumblings^[a] and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning ^(L)seven torches of fire, ^(M)which are the seven spirits of God, ⁶ and before the throne there was ^(N)as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are ^(O)four living creatures, ^(P)full of eyes in front and behind: ^7 (Q)the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. ⁸ And the four living creatures, ^(R)each of them with six wings, are ^(S)full of eyes all around and within, and ^(T)day and night they never cease to say,

⁹ And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, ^(W)who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders ^(X)fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast ^(Y)their crowns before the throne, saying,

The 144,000 of Israel Sealed

7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back ^(A)the four winds of the earth, ^(B)that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. ² Then I saw another angel ascending ^(C)from the rising of the sun, with ^(D)the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, ³ saying, ^(E)“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God ^(F)on their foreheads.” ⁴ And ^(G)I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

⁹ After this I looked, and behold, ^(H)a great multitude that no one could number, ^(I)from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, ^(J)clothed in white robes, with ^(K)palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, ^(L)“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and ^(M)the four living creatures, and they ^(N)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ^12 (O)saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, ^(P)clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of ^(Q)the great tribulation. ^(R)They have washed their robes and ^(S)made them white ^(T)in the blood of the Lamb.