First ReadingRevelation 5:1-10
From the Book of Revelation
1I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne,a book written inside and outside,sealed shut with seven seals.2I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice,“Who is worthy to open the book,and to break its seals?”3No one in heaven above,or on the earth, or under the earth,was able to open the book or to look in it.4Then I wept much,because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look in it.5One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep.Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah,the Root of David, has overcome:he who opens the book and its seven seals.”
6I saw in the middle of the throneand of the four living creatures,and in the middle of the elders,a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain,having seven horns and seven eyes,which are the seven Spirits of God,sent out into all the earth.7Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of himwho sat on the throne.8Now when he had taken the book,the four living creaturesand the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb,each one having a harp,and golden bowls full of incense,which are the prayers of the saints.9They sang a new song, saying,
“You are worthy to take the bookand to open its seals,for you were killed,and bought us for God with your bloodout of every tribe, language, people, and nation,10and made us kings and priests to our God;and we will reign on the earth.”