4 ¹ After this I looked, and lo, in heaven an open door! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this." 4 ² At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! 4 ³ And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. 4 ⁴ Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. 4 ⁵ From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; 4 ⁶ and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 4 ^{7 [ Eze.1.5-10, Eze.10.14. ]} 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 a flying eagle. 4 ^{8 [ Is.6.2-3, Am.3.13, Am.4.13. ]} And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing,