Revelation 4
God sits on his throne
1After these things happened, I looked and I saw a door in heaven that was open. The Person who had talked to me before talked again and He said to me: ‘Come up here. I will show you what will happen after these things.’
The voice of the Person was as loud as a trumpet. 2The power of the Spirit came over me and I saw a throne in heaven and Someone sitting on the throne. 3The Person on the throne looked like jasper and carnelian. Around the throne was a rainbow that looked like emerald. 4Around the throne were 24 thrones, and there were 24 elders sitting on the thrones. They had white clothes and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5There was lightning and thunder that came from the throne and it made a lot of noise. There were 7 torches burning before the throne. These were the 7 Spirits of God.
6Before the throne there was something that looked like a sea of glass. It was clear as crystal.
In the middle, around the throne, there were 4 living_beings. The body of each living_being was full of eyes, in front and behind. 7The first living_being looked like a lion. The 2nd living_being looked like a bull. The 3rd living_being had a face like a man's face. The 4th living_being looked like a flying eagle. 8Each living_being had 6 wings and there were eyes all over the wings, inside and outside. The 4 living_beings kept on singing. They said:
‘The Lord God is Almighty.
He is holy, holy, holy.
God is here now, He was always here
and He will come again.’
9Yes, the 4 living_beings praised the Person who sits on the throne. They gave glory to God and thanked Him who lives forever. 10Every time they did that, the 24 elders fell down onto the floor in front of the Person who sits on the throne. They prayed to Him who lives forever, and they put down their crowns in front of his throne and they said:
11‘Lord, our God, You are worthy.
We must all honour You
and praise You and say
how strong You are.
We want to do this because
You have made all things.
You made all things because
You decided to do it.
That is why everything is here.’
English Bible for the Deaf © Bible Society of South Africa 2019. Used with permission. All rights reserved.