Lord or Jehovah
The premise of the Jehovah Witness translation of the Bible is the practice of replacing YHVH with LORD is an error and the text should be translated literally. This approach only has merit when considering how to translate the Old Testament. The practice of not speaking "Jehovah" was Jewish, and the practice of not writing YHVH in Greek began with the LXX, some 200 years before the Christian Era.
All New Testament documents indicate the early church followed Judaism in this regard. Therefore, claiming ὁ κύριος means Jehovah is an interpretation, not a translation. Moreover, it is an interpretation contrary to the practice of early church and Judaism which continues the practice to this day.
In the appendix to his book, Truth in Translation, Jason BeDuhn states:
Having concluded that the NW is one of the most accurate English translations of the New Testament currently available, I would be remiss if I did not mention one peculiarity of this translation that by most conventions of translation would be considered an inaccuracy, however, little this inaccuracy change the meaning of most of the verses where it appears. I am referring to the use of “Jehovah” in the NW New Testament, “Jehovah” (or “Yahweh” or some other reconstruction of the divine name consisting of the four consonants YHWH) is the personal name of God used more than six thousand times in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament. But the name never appears in any Greek manuscript of any book of the New Testament. So, to introduce the name “Jehovah” into the New Testament, as the NW does two-hundred-thirty-seven times, is not accurate translation by the most basic principle of accuracy: adherence to the original Greek text. 1
BeDuhn explains the validity of this approach by saying the NWT harmonizes the New Testament by continuing the practice. For example, consider how the NWT understands Peter on Pentecost.
Acts 2:21
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (ESV)
And everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved. (NWT)
BeDuhn explains the logic. Since Peter is quoting Joel, one must look to the Old Testament to accurately understand Peter's speech. The problem with this logic should be obvious, anyone reading Acts would think they could be saved by calling on the the name of the Lord, Jesus.
Romans 10:9
For if you publicly declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved. (NWT)
However, according to the Jehovah Witness interpretation, the name which brings salvation was hidden; it was never written in any Greek text.
The essence of a belief the earliest Christians used Jehovah is similar to what the Gnostics taught: secret knowledge was essential for salvation. The Gnostics taught the plain reading of texts provided limited knowledge which was insufficient for salvation. One needed to be initiated to understand what was hidden. In terms of the Gentiles and the name Jehovah, a Gnostic would say, "The Jews hid the Name Jehovah from the Gentiles when they translated the Tanakh, and in their public readings on the Sabbath. You need someone with the complete knowledge to teach you."
Therefore, the basis of salvation as taught in the New Testament, the NWT interpretation, You are worthy, Jehovah our God... and the OP's suggestion, "Worthy are You, YHWH and God of us... should be rejected.
Worship
Revelation has more to say about worship than any New Testament book. It is also the only place which describes worship taking place. In their book, Unveiling Empire; Reading Revelation Then and Now, Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther make this observation:
One of the greatest differences between Revelation and other New Testament texts is Revelation's portrayal of numerous scenes of liturgy and worship. The Gospels never show the followers of Jesus in prayer, although Jesus prays regularly...teaches his followers how to pray...and harshly criticizes hypocritical prayer of the Jerusalem elite...Similarly, Paul refers many times to his own prayer and offers advice to his communities on how to pray and conduct themselves during worship...as do the other epistle writers...Revelation, though, like the work of a good novelist, shows rather than tells its audience how to offer prayer and worship.2
Therefore, like the question of salvation, only Lord would be proper instruction on how to worship (cf. Revelation 1:3). The NWT and OP's suggestion should be rejected.
The Literal Text
There are textual variants
ἄξιος εἶ ὁ κύριος καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν λαβεῖν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ὅτι σὺ ἔκτισας τὰ πάντα καὶ διὰ τὸ θέλημά σου ἦσαν καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν (MGNT)
Ἄξιος εἶ Κύριε, λαβεῖν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ὅτι σὺ ἔκτισας τὰ πάντα καὶ διὰ τὸ θέλημά σου εἰσιν καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν (TR)
The critically accepted text is ὁ κύριος καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν. The King James text has Lord as vocative and omits the God of us. The difficulty in the accepted text likely accounts for alterations in the Received Text.
The composition, ὁ κύριος καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν prefaces the two nominative nouns with an article separated by the conjunction καὶ. Unmistakably the meaning is the Lord and the God of us. The verb worthy is singular indicating the two nouns identify a single entity. This is reinforced by the phrase ὅτι σὺ ἔκτισας, for you created, where you and created are also written as singular.
The difficulty lies in the fact the literal text states the Lord is the God of us... which explicitly states the Lord is being worshipped by the 24-elders as our God. In New Testament terminology, the Lord is Jesus, most often expressed as our Lord. That is, the 24-elders are described as worshipping the Lord, not the God who is our God. Equally problematic for those who demand worship can only be to the Father, is the fact Father is never used in any worship scene amd only used once in the visions following the seven letters.
Revelation 14
1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
If one believes the name written on the forehead is "Jehovah" we have a scene in which true worship, like true salvation, is hidden from those on the earth.
Finally, with respect to what the 24-elders say, there is one statement which seems incompatible with interpreting their worship as directed to the Father.
Worthy are you...to receive the glory and the honor and the power...
The Father should already possess these attributes. If the 24-elders are worshipping the Father, why aren't they worshipping Him because He has the glory and the honor and the power? Why does their worship reflect something which is yet to happen?
Conclusion
The 24-elders are worshipping the Lord. They are not worshipping their Lord or the Lord of us. The expression used should be interpreted as the Lord of all. Unlike Paul, for example, who writes to Christians and identifies Jesus as our Lord (because those who reject Jesus do not acknowledge Him as Lord). the 24-elders do not qualify Lord. He is the Lord, not our Lord.
On the other hand, in their worship the 24-elders do qualify God. They worship our God, not the God. With respect to the conflict with worship taking place throughout Revelation, true worship must be qualified. There are some who worship the beast and their are some who worship the Lord as their God.
As BeDuhn says, the inaccuracy of changing Lord to Jehovah changes the meaning. Instead of describing the 24-elders worshipping as New Testament believers; it presents their worship in terms of Old Testament Judaism. Except they do not direct their worship to the God, but the Lord, their God, who is worthy to receive (in the future) the glory and the honor and the power.
- Jason David BeDuhn, Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament, University Press of America, 2003, p. 169
- Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther, Unveiling Empire; Reading Revelation Then and Now, Orbis Books, 2001, p. 197.
