Revelation · King James Version (with Apocrypha)
Revelation 4 King James Version (with Apocrypha)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
1 After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this.”
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne.
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne
3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and [there was] a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
3 that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at.
4 And round about the throne [were] four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads.
5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and [there were] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
5 Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 And before the throne [there was] a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, [were] four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
6 Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the middle of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.
7 And the first beast [was] like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast [was] like a flying eagle.
7 The first creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.
8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
8 The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!”
9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
9 When the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever,
10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed and were created!”
Cross references (11)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Revelation 11:12; Exodus 24:12; Revelation 1:19; Revelation 1:10; Mark 1:10
- 2 Revelation 1:10; 1 Kings 22:19; Isaiah 6:1; Ezekiel 3:12–14; Ezekiel 1:26
- 3 Ezekiel 1:28; Revelation 21:11; Genesis 9:13–16; Revelation 10:1; Ezekiel 28:13
- 4 Matthew 19:28; Revelation 11:16; Revelation 4:10; Revelation 7:11; Revelation 20:4
- 5 Revelation 11:19; Revelation 8:5; Revelation 1:4; Revelation 5:6; Revelation 16:17–18
- 6 Revelation 15:2; Revelation 5:6; Revelation 4:8–9; Revelation 14:3; Ezekiel 10:12
- 7 Ezekiel 10:14; Ezekiel 1:10; Ezekiel 10:21; Ezekiel 1:8; Revelation 4:6
- 8 Isaiah 6:2–13; Revelation 1:8; Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 4:6; Exodus 15:11
- 9 Revelation 5:13–14; Revelation 7:11–12; Revelation 10:6; Revelation 15:7; Psalm 47:8
- 10 Revelation 5:8; Psalm 95:6; Revelation 19:4; Revelation 11:16; 1 Chronicles 29:11–16
- 11 Colossians 1:16–17; Revelation 5:12; Isaiah 40:28; Proverbs 16:4; John 1:1–3
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For, [as the Scripture] says, "The first living creature was like a lion," symbolizing His effectual working, His leadership, and royal power; the second [living creature] was like a calf, signifying [His] sacrificial and sacerdotal order; but "the third had, as it were, the face as of a man,"--an evident description of His advent as a human being; "the fourth …