Revelation 4

World English Bible 119 include this book

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 Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne

3 that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at.

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 “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!”

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13 places named in this book — no place is named in this chapter, so the whole book is shown.

Where this was written

Patmos attested The book states that John was on Patmos when he received the vision.

When this was written

The traditions broadly agree on this one.

Broad agreement: 92 AD–96 AD John of Patmos
Usually placed late in Domitian's reign, on the testimony of Irenaeus.

Who ruled Rome

Emperors reigning while this book is dated. Where the traditions differ, they often fall under different rulers.

Broad agreement

Domitian 81 AD–96 AD
An autocratic reign under which Revelation is traditionally placed, on the testimony of Irenaeus.
Nerva 96 AD–98 AD
A brief reign that eased the pressures of Domitian's last years.

Elsewhere in the world

Events overlapping the period this book is dated to (92 AD–96 AD).

1070 BC–350 AD The kingdom of Kush Africa
A Nubian power on the upper Nile that ruled Egypt itself as its twenty-fifth dynasty.
500 BC–500 AD The Nazca lines South America
Vast figures drawn on the Peruvian desert, visible only from the surrounding hills.
206 BC–220 AD The Han dynasty China
Four centuries of Chinese rule contemporary with the whole of Roman expansion.
150 BC–100 AD Roman concrete and the aqueducts Rome
Hydraulic concrete let Rome build harbours, domes and aqueducts that still stand.
100 BC–550 AD Teotihuacan Mesoamerica
A city of perhaps a hundred thousand people in the valley of Mexico, with monumental pyramids.
75 AD–94 AD Josephus writes his histories Levant
A Jewish commander turned Roman client whose account is the main narrative source for first-century Judea.
27 BC–100 AD Roman road and sea network matures Rome
Consolidated roads, harbours and suppressed piracy made long-distance travel unusually safe, a precondition for the rapid spread of early Christian communities.
81 AD–96 AD Reign of Domitian Rome
An autocratic reign under which Revelation is traditionally placed.

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