World English Bible · Under Rome
Revelation 4
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After these things I looked and saw a door opened in ; and the first voice that I heard, like a speaking with me, was one saying, "Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this." Immediately I was in . Behold, there was a set in , and one sitting on that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around , like an emerald to look at. Around were twenty-four . On the were twenty-four sitting, dressed in , with of gold on their heads. Out of proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of burning before his , which are the seven Spirits of . Before was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the middle of , and around were full of eyes before and behind. The first creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature had a like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. , each one of them having six , are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, ", , is , , who was and who is and who is to come!" When the living creatures give , , and thanks to , to him who lives and ever, the twenty-four fall down before and him who lives and ever, and throw their before , saying, "Worthy are you, our and , the One, to receive the , the , and the , for you created all things, and because of your they existed and were created!"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.