The Glorious New Creation

All Things Made New

21 Now ^(A)I saw a new heaven and a new earth, ^(B)for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. ² Then I, ^[a]John, saw ^(C)the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared ^(D)as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, ^(E)the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ^4 (F)And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; ^(G)there shall be no more death, ^(H)nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵ Then ^(I)He who sat on the throne said, ^(J)“Behold, I make all things new.” And He said ^[b]to me, “Write, for ^(K)these words are true and faithful.”

⁶ And He said to me, ^(L)“It^[c] is done! ^(M)I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. ^(N)I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. ⁷ He who overcomes ^[d]shall inherit all things, and ^(O)I will be his God and he shall be My son. ^8 (P)But the cowardly, ^[e]unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in ^(Q)the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The River of Life

22 And he showed me ^(A)a ^[a]pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. ^2 (B)In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was ^(C)the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were ^(D)for the healing of the nations. ³ And ^(E)there shall be no more curse, ^(F)but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His ^(G)servants shall serve Him. ^4 (H)They shall see His face, and ^(I)His name shall be on their foreheads. ^5 (J)There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor ^(K)light of the sun, for ^(L)the Lord God gives them light. ^(M)And they shall reign forever and ever.

⁹ And ^(A)they sang a new song, saying:

Paul Urges Forgiveness

2 But I determined this within myself, ^(A)that I would not come again to you in sorrow. ² For if I make you ^(B)sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me?

Forgive the Offender

³ And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, ^(C)I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, ^(D)having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. ⁴ For out of much ^[a]affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, ^(E)not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.

⁶ So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷ For ^(A)we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, yes, ^(B)well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

¹⁷ and if children, then ^(A)heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, ^(B)if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

From Suffering to Glory

¹⁸ For I consider that ^(C)the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For ^(D)the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For ^(E)the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of ^[a]corruption into the glorious ^(F)liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation ^(G)groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have ^(H)the firstfruits of the Spirit, ^(I)even we ourselves groan ^(J)within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the ^(K)redemption of our body. ²⁴ For we were saved in this hope, but ^(L)hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.