Revelation 4:8
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Study Note
Study Note
The four living creatures who cry 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come' draw directly on the seraphim of Isaiah 6:3 and the creatures of Ezekiel 1, fusing the two great throne-visions of the Hebrew prophets. The trisagion (three-fold 'holy') is the most ancient and universal element of Jewish and Christian liturgy, expressing God's absolute otherness from all created reality — what Rudolf Otto called the 'mysterium tremendum et fascinans.' The addition of 'which was, and is, and is to come' to the divine name is a liturgical expansion of Exodus 3:14, embedding eternity within the very grammar of God's self-designation. Christian liturgical tradition (the Sanctus of the Mass) has incorporated this verse as its central act of worship.
Other Translations
And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and within: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, isthe Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
And the four living creatures, each by itself severally, had six wings, around and within <FI>are<Fi> full of eyes, and rest they have not day and night, saying, `Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is coming;'
And the four beasts, having every one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and inside: and without resting day and night, they say, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, Ruler of all, who was and is and is to come.
Cross References
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am …
Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, …
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he …
But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, …
Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness …
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that …
And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.