The Decree of Darius

6 Then Darius the king made a decree, and ^(A)search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. ² And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is ^(B)in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. ³ In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits^[a] and its breadth sixty cubits, ^4 (C)with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. ⁵ And also ^(D)let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.”

⁶ “Now therefore, ^(E)Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, ^(F)and your^[b] associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. ⁷ Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. ⁸ Moreover, ^(G)I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. ⁹ And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, ¹⁰ that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven ^(H)and pray for the life of the king and his sons. ¹¹ Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and ^(I)his house shall be made a dunghill. ¹² May the God ^(J)who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”

The Temple Finished and Dedicated

¹³ Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, ^(K)Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. ^14 (L)And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and ^(M)by decree of Cyrus and ^(N)Darius and ^(O)Artaxerxes king of Persia; ¹⁵ and this house was finished on the third day of the ^(P)month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

¹⁶ And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the ^(Q)dedication of this house of God with joy. ¹⁷ They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel ^(R)12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ And they set the priests ^(S)in their divisions and the Levites ^(T)in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, ^(U)as it is written in the Book of Moses.

Passover Celebrated

^19 (V)On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. ^20 (W)For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. ^(X)So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. ²¹ It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and ^(Y)also by every one who had joined them and separated himself ^(Z)from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. ²² And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread ^(AA)seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful ^(AB)and had turned the heart of ^(AC)the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

The New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw ^(A)a new heaven and a new earth, for ^(B)the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw ^(C)the holy city, ^(D)new Jerusalem, ^(E)coming down out of heaven from God, ^(F)prepared ^(G)as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, ^(H)the dwelling place^[a] of God is with man. He will ^(I)dwell with them, and they will be his people,^[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.^{[c] 4 (J)}He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and ^(K)death shall be no more, ^(L)neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵ And ^(M)he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I ^(N)am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for ^(O)these words are trustworthy and true.” ⁶ And he said to me, ^(P)“It is done! ^(Q)I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. ^(R)To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. ^7 (S)The one who conquers will have this heritage, and ^(T)I will be his God and ^(U)he will be my son. ^8 (V)But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, ^(W)their portion will be in ^(X)the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is ^(Y)the second death.”

The New Jerusalem

⁹ Then came ^(Z)one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of ^(AA)the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you ^(AB)the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰ And ^(AC)he carried me away in the Spirit to ^(AD)a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, ^11 (AE)having the glory of God, ^(AF)its radiance ^(AG)like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It had a great, high wall, ^(AH)with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— ¹³ on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. ¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve ^(AI)foundations, and ^(AJ)on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵ And the one who spoke with me ^(AK)had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. ¹⁶ The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.^[d] Its length and width and height are equal. ¹⁷ He also measured its wall, 144 cubits^[e] by ^(AL)human measurement, which is also ^(AM)an angel's measurement. ¹⁸ The wall was built of ^(AN)jasper, while the city was pure gold, like ^(AO)clear glass. ^19 (AP)The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and ^(AQ)the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

²² And ^(AR)I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³ And the city ^(AS)has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for ^(AT)the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ By its light ^(AU)will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth ^(AV)will bring their glory into it, ²⁵ and ^(AW)its gates will never be shut by day—and ^(AX)there will be no night there. ²⁶ They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. ²⁷ But ^(AY)nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's ^(AZ)book of life.

The River of Life

22 Then the angel^[f] showed me ^(BA)the river of ^(BB)the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² through the middle of ^(BC)the street of the city; ^(BD)also, on either side of the river, ^(BE)the tree of life^[g] with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were ^(BF)for the healing of the nations. ^3 (BG)No longer will there be anything accursed, but ^(BH)the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and ^(BI)his servants will worship him. ^4 (BJ)They will see his face, and ^(BK)his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And ^(BL)night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp ^(BM)or sun, for ^(BN)the Lord God will be their light, and ^(BO)they will reign forever and ever.

Jesus Is Coming

⁶ And he said to me, ^(BP)“These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of ^(BQ)the spirits of the prophets, ^(BR)has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

⁷ “And behold, ^(BS)I am coming soon. ^(BT)Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸ I, ^(BU)John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, ^(BV)I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, ^9 (BW)but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those ^(BX)who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

¹⁰ And he said to me, ^(BY)“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. ^11 (BZ)Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

¹² “Behold, ^(CA)I am coming soon, ^(CB)bringing my recompense with me, ^(CC)to repay each one for what he has done. ^13 (CD)I am the Alpha and the Omega, ^(CE)the first and the last, ^(CF)the beginning and the end.”

¹⁴ Blessed are those who ^(CG)wash their robes,^[h] so that they may have the right to ^(CH)the tree of life and that ^(CI)they may enter the city by the gates. ^15 (CJ)Outside are ^(CK)the dogs ^(CL)and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

^16 (CM)“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things ^(CN)for the churches. I am ^(CO)the root and ^(CP)the descendant of David, ^(CQ)the bright morning star.”

¹⁷ The Spirit and ^(CR)the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And ^(CS)let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the ^(CT)water of life without price.

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: ^(CU)if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in ^(CV)the tree of life and in ^(CW)the holy city, which are described in this book.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Surely ^(CX)I am coming soon.” Amen. ^(CY)Come, Lord Jesus!

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.^[i] Amen.