The New Jerusalem

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared. Now there was no sea. ² And I saw the holy city coming down out of heaven from God. This holy city is the new Jerusalem.^[a] It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband. ³ I heard a loud voice from the throne. The voice said, “Now God’s home is with men. He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and will be their God.^{[b] 4} He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.”

⁵ The One who was sitting on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.”

⁶ The One on the throne said to me: “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega,^[c] the Beginning and the End. I will give free water from the spring of the water of life to anyone who is thirsty. ⁷ Anyone who wins the victory will receive this. And I will be his God, and he will be my son. ⁸ But those who are cowards, who refuse to believe, who do evil things, who kill, who are sexually immoral, who do evil magic, who worship idols, and who tell lies—all these will have a place in the lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

⁹ One of the seven angels came to me. This was one of the angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last troubles. He said, “Come with me. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ The angel carried me away by the Spirit to a very large and high mountain. He showed me the holy city, Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹ It was shining with the glory of God. It was shining bright like a very expensive jewel, like a jasper. It was clear as crystal. ¹² The city had a great high wall with 12 gates. There were 12 angels at the gates. On each gate was written the name of 1 of the 12 tribes of Israel. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. ¹⁴ The walls of the city were built on 12 foundation stones. On the stones were written the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵ The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod made of gold. He had this rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. ¹⁶ The city was built in a square. Its length was equal to its width. The angel measured the city with the rod. The city was 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles wide, and 1,500 miles high. ¹⁷ The angel also measured the wall. It was 216 feet high, by man’s measurement. That was the measurement the angel was using. ¹⁸ The wall was made of jasper. The city was made of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹ The foundation stones of the city walls had every kind of jewel in them. The first cornerstone was jasper, the second was sapphire, the third was chalcedony, the fourth was emerald, ²⁰ the fifth was onyx, the sixth was carnelian, the seventh was chrysolite, the eighth was beryl, the ninth was topaz, the tenth was chrysoprase, the eleventh was jacinth, and the twelfth was amethyst. ²¹ The 12 gates were 12 pearls. Each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was made of pure gold. The gold was clear as glass.

²² I did not see a temple in the city. The Lord God All-Powerful and the Lamb are the city’s temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. The glory of God is its light, and the Lamb is the city’s lamp. ²⁴ By its light the people of the world will walk. The kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ The city’s gates will never be shut on any day, because there is no night there. ²⁶ The greatness and the honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing unclean will ever enter the city. No one who does shameful things or tells lies will ever go into it. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter the city.