በሰማይ ያለው ዙፋን
1ከዚህ በኋላ እነሆ፤ በሰማይ የተከፈተ በር አየሁ፤ ቀደም ሲል እንደ መለከት ሲናገረኝ የሰማሁት ድምፅ፣ “ወደዚህ ና፤ ከዚህም በኋላ ሊሆን የሚገባውን ነገር አሳይሃለሁ” አለኝ። 2እኔም ወዲያወኑ በመንፈስ ነበርሁ፤ እነሆም በሰማይ ዙፋን ቆሟል፤ በዙፋኑም ላይ የተቀመጠ ነበረ። 3ተቀምጦም የነበረው የኢያስጲድንና የሰርዲኖን ዕንይመስል ነበር። የመረግድ ዕንየመሰለ ቀስተ ደመናም ዙፋኑን ከብቦት ነበር። 4በዙፋኑ ዙሪያ ሌሎች ሃያ አራት ዙፋኖች ነበሩ፤ በእነርሱም ላይ ነጭ ልብስ የለበሱና በራሳቸውም ላይ የወርቅ አክሊል የደፉ ሃያ አራት ሽማግሌዎች ተቀምጠው ነበር። 5ከዙፋኑም መብረቅና ድምፅ፣ ነጐድጓድም ወጣ፤ በዙፋኑ ፊት ሰባት መብራቶች ይበሩ ነበር፤ እነዚህም ሰባቱ የእግዚአብሔር መናፍስት4፥5 ወይም ሰባት ዕጥፍ መንፈስ ናቸው። 6ደግሞም በዙፋኑ ፊት እንደ መስተዋት የጠራ የብርጭቆ ባሕር ነበረ።
በዙፋኑ መካከል፣ በዙሪያውም ከፊትና ከኋላ በዐይን የተሞሉ አራት ሕያዋን ፍጡራን ነበሩ። 7የመጀመሪያው ሕያው ፍጡር አንበሳ፣ ሁለተኛው በሬ ይመስሉ ነበር፤ ሦስተኛው የሰው ፊት የሚመስል ፊት ነበረው፤ አራተኛው ደግሞ የሚበርር ንስር ይመስል ነበር። 8አራቱም ሕያዋን ፍጡራን እያንዳንዳቸው ስድስት ስድስት ክንፎች ነበሯቸው፤ በዙሪያቸውና በውስጣቸው በዐይኖች የተሞሉ ነበሩ፤ ቀንና ሌሊትም፦
“ቅዱስ፣ ቅዱስ፣ ቅዱስ፣
የነበረው፣ ያለውና የሚመጣው፤
ሁሉን ቻይ ጌታ አምላክ”
ማለትን አያቋርጡም። 9ሕያዋን ፍጡራኑ በዙፋኑ ላይ ለተቀመጠውና ከዘላለም እስከ ዘላለም ሕያው ሆኖ ለሚኖረው ክብር፣ ሞገስና ምስጋና በሚሰጡበት ጊዜ፣ 10ሃያ አራቱ ሽማግሌዎች በዙፋኑ ላይ በተቀመጠው ፊት ተደፍተው፣ ከዘላለም እስከ ዘላለም ሕያው ሆኖ ለሚኖረው ይሰግዱ ነበር፤ አክሊላቸውንም በዙፋኑ ፊት አስቀምጠው እንዲህ ይላሉ፤
11“ጌታችንና አምላካችን ሆይ፤
ክብርና ሞገስ፣ ኀይልም ልትቀበል ይገባሃል፤
አንተ ሁሉን ፈጥረሃልና፤
በፈቃድህም ተፈጥረዋልና፤
ሆነዋልምና።”
The throne in heaven
1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits4:5 That is, the sevenfold Spirit of God. 6Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the centre, round the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and behind. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all round, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
‘ “Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,”4:8 Isaiah 6:3
who was, and is, and is to come.’
9Whenever the living creatures give glory, honour and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.’
