Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.
Parallel translations
- WEB I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals.
- KJV And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
- NKJV And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
- NASB I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.
- NLT Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In God's right hand is a scroll sealed with seven seals, written front and back. It represents God's complete plan and purpose for history, secured under His authority.
Overview
The fully written, sealed scroll pictures God's sovereign decree for the unfolding of history and final redemption, held in His own hand. Seven seals indicate it is perfectly secured and not yet enacted. The drama of the chapter turns on who is worthy to open it and thus to bring God's saving and judging purposes to pass.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ezek 2:9–10Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me, and in it was a scroll,
- Isa 29:11And the entire vision will be to you like the words sealed in a scroll. If it is handed to someone to read, he will say, “I cannot, because it is sealed.”
- Rev 5:7And He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne.
- Dan 12:4–9But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase.”
- Rev 6:1Then I watched as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a thunderous voice, “Come!”
- Rev 10:2He held in his hand a small scroll, which lay open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.
- Rev 5:13And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!”
- Rev 4:3The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.
- Rev 10:8–11Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the small scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”
- Isa 8:16Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.
- Dan 8:26The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been spoken is true. Now you must seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”
- Isa 34:16Search and read the scroll of the LORD: Not one of these will go missing, not one will lack her mate, because He has ordered it by His mouth, and He will gather them by His Spirit.
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 5:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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