Ezra Sent to Teach the People

7 Now after this, ^(A)in the reign of ^(B)Artaxerxes king of Persia, ^(C)Ezra the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, ² son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, ³ son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, ⁴ son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, ⁵ son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest— ⁶ this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe ^(D)skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, ^(E)for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

⁷ And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and ^(F)some of the priests and ^(G)Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple ^(H)servants. ⁸ And Ezra^[a] came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. ⁹ For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, ^(I)for the good hand of his God was on him. ¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it ^(J)and to ^(K)teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

¹¹ This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel:^{[b] 12} “Artaxerxes, ^(L)king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the ^(M)scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace.^{[c] (N)}And now ^13 (O)I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you. ¹⁴ For you are sent by the king ^(P)and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, ¹⁵ and also to carry the silver and gold that the king ^(Q)and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, ^(R)whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, ^16 (S)with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and ^(T)with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. ¹⁷ With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and ^(U)you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. ¹⁹ The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. ²⁰ And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king's treasury.

²¹ “And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, ²² up to 100 talents^[d] of silver, 100 cors^[e] of wheat, 100 baths^[f] of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. ²³ Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. ²⁴ We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose ^(V)tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.

²⁵ “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, ^(W)appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. ^(X)And those who do not know them, you shall teach. ²⁶ Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”

^27 (Y)Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, ^(Z)who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, ^28 (AA)and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.

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.