Revelation 5:1-10
The Scroll with Seven Seals
1 I saw in the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, closed and sealed with seven seals.(A)
2 And I saw a strong angel announcing with a loud voice, “Who is worthy [having the authority and virtue] to open the scroll and to (a)break its seals?”
3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth [in Hades, the realm of the dead] was able to open the scroll or look into it.
4 And I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it.
5 Then one of the [twenty-four] elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look closely, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome and conquered! He can open the scroll and [break] its seven seals.”(B)
6 And there (b)between the throne (with the four living creatures) and among the elders I saw a Lamb (Christ) standing, [bearing scars and wounds] as though it had been slain, with seven horns (complete power) and with seven eyes (complete knowledge), which are (c)the seven Spirits of God who have been sent [on duty] into all the earth.(C)
7 And He came and (d)took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8 And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb (Christ), each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of fragrant incense, which are the prayers of the saints (God’s people).
9 And they sang a new song [of glorious redemption], saying,
“You have made them to be a kingdom [of royal subjects] and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.”(E)
“Worthy and deserving are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.(D)
10 “You have made them to be a kingdom [of royal subjects] and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.”(E)
Footnotes:
a.
Revelation 5:2: When the seals are broken, the consummation of history, focused in the judgments, is unveiled.
b.
Revelation 5:6: The Lamb is Jesus Christ, who stands “between,” in other words both as one with God upon the throne and as one with humanity around the throne.
c.
Revelation 5:6: See note 1:4.
d.
Revelation 5:7: Lit has taken. This is the Greek perfect tense, which John sometimes uses to emphasize the lasting significance of an action or event.