Revelation 5:1

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.

2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”

3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
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.
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.
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.
ASV
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals.
DARBY
And I saw on the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a book, written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
BLB
And I saw on the right hand of the One sitting upon the throne a scroll, written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.
ÅB
Og jeg så i hans høyre hånd som satt på tronen, en bokrull, skrevet innvendig og utvendig, og forseglet med syv segl.
OTB
Jeg så i høyre hånd til ham som satt på tronen en bokrull, skrevet på begge sider og forseglet med syv segl.
B1930
Og jeg så i hans høire hånd som satt på tronen, en bokrull, skrevet innvendig og utvendig, og forseglet med syv segl.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Ezekiel 2:9–10

    Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me, and in it was a scroll,

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 29:11

    And 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.”

    Read in context
  • Revelation 5:7

    And He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne.

    Read in context
  • Daniel 12:4–9

    But 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.”

    Read in context
  • Revelation 6:1

    Then 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!”

    Read in context
  • Revelation 10:2

    He 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.

    Read in context
  • Revelation 5:13

    And 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!”

    Read in context
  • Revelation 4:3

    The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.

    Read in context