1 And behold, the Four‑and‑Twenty Heads stood encircling the throne, their eyes burning like bowls of judgment, their breath rising as incense before the Most High.
2 And around them gathered a multitude without number, a host whose smoke rose upward until even Heaven itself grew heavy on the eyes that were red like herbs on fire..
3 And we who stood among them said, “Surely we have risen high, surely none ascend beyond this height.”
4 But a voice answered from the center of the throne, saying, “Look again.” And we looked, and we were astonished, for there was One whose height surpassed even ours, whose glory pressed upward beyond the veil of Heaven.
5 And I said, “Who is higher than the High?” And the voice replied, “The Most High alone.”
6 Then the One in the midst stretched out His hand, and the Four‑and‑Twenty bowed low before Him.
7 And He said, “Bring Me the flowers of the earth, bring Me the swine of the nations, bring Me the pine of the wilderness.”
8 And He ground them beneath His palm until they became as dust and fragrance, until their spirits rose like smoke to join the multitude above.
9 From the North, a wind arose, carrying with it the sound of marching feet, and the heavens said, “They are here.”
10 And from the South, another company approached, but upon them was a mark, a sign known only to the watchers and the wise.
11 And the smoke of the multitude rose higher than high, higher than the High Ones, higher even than the Most High’s own court, until Heaven trembled with the weight of their rising.
12 And the elders cried out, “We have risen, yet He rises still.”
13 For the smoke of the Four‑and‑Twenty and the smoke of the multitudes became one pillar, stretching beyond the firmament, beyond the throne, beyond the name of High itself.
14 And the voice of the Most High declared, “Let all who rise, rise unto Me; for no height is higher than the One who gives the most height to all things.”
