¹² Rejoice and be glad,^(A) because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.^(B)

²⁰ But our citizenship^(A) is in heaven.^(B) And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,^{(C) 21} who, by the power^(D) that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies^(E) so that they will be like his glorious body.^(F)

²² But you have come to Mount Zion,^(A) to the city^(B) of the living God,^(C) the heavenly Jerusalem.^(D) You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn,^(E) whose names are written in heaven.^(F) You have come to God, the Judge of all,^(G) to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,^{(H) 24} to Jesus the mediator^(I) of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood^(J) that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.^(K)

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a](A) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,^(B) and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City,^(C) the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,^(D) prepared as a bride^(E) beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.^(F) They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.^{(G) 4} ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.^(H) There will be no more death’^[b](I) or mourning or crying or pain,^(J) for the old order of things has passed away.”^(K)

²² I did not see a temple^(A) in the city, because the Lord God Almighty^(B) and the Lamb^(C) are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God^(D) gives it light,^(E) and the Lamb^(F) is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.^{(G) 25} On no day will its gates^(H) ever be shut,^(I) for there will be no night there.^{(J) 26} The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.^{(K) 27} Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,^(L) but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.^(M)

Eden Restored

22 Then the angel showed me the river^(A) of the water of life,^(B) as clear as crystal,^(C) flowing^(D) from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life,^(E) bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.^{(F) 3} No longer will there be any curse.^(G) The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.^{(H) 4} They will see his face,^(I) and his name will be on their foreheads.^{(J) 5} There will be no more night.^(K) They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.^(L) And they will reign for ever and ever.^(M)