¹¹ I will increase the number of people and animals living on you, and they will be fruitful^(A) and become numerous. I will settle people^(B) on you as in the past^(C) and will make you prosper more than before.^(D) Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² I will cause people, my people Israel, to live on you. They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance;^(E) you will never again deprive them of their children.

¹³ “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because some say to you, “You devour people^(F) and deprive your nation of its children,” ¹⁴ therefore you will no longer devour people or make your nation childless, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁵ No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations, and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples or cause your nation to fall, declares the Sovereign Lord.^(G)’”

Israel’s Restoration Assured

¹⁶ Again the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷ “Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness^(H) in my sight.^{(I) 18} So I poured out^(J) my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. ¹⁹ I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered^(K) through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions.^{(L) 20} And wherever they went among the nations they profaned^(M) my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’^{(N) 21} I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.^(O)

²² “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name,^(P) which you have profaned^(Q) among the nations where you have gone.^{(R) 23} I will show the holiness of my great name,^(S) which has been profaned^(T) among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,^(U) declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy^(V) through you before their eyes.^(W)

²⁴ “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.^{(X) 25} I will sprinkle^(Y) clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse^(Z) you from all your impurities^(AA) and from all your idols.^{(AB) 26} I will give you a new heart^(AC) and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone^(AD) and give you a heart of flesh.^{(AE) 27} And I will put my Spirit^(AF) in you and move you to follow my decrees^(AG) and be careful to keep my laws.^{(AH) 28} Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people,^(AI) and I will be your God.^{(AJ) 29} I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine^(AK) upon you. ³⁰ I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine.^{(AL) 31} Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices.^{(AM) 32} I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed^(AN) and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!^(AO)

³³ “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse^(AP) you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins^(AQ) will be rebuilt.^{(AR) 34} The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. ³⁵ They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden;^(AS) the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.^(AT)” ³⁶ Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’^(AU)

³⁷ “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea^(AV) and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep,^{(AW) 38} as numerous as the flocks for offerings^(AX) at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.^(AY)”

²⁷ My dwelling place^(A) will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.^{(B) 28} Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy,^(C) when my sanctuary is among them forever.^(D)’”

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)

¹⁰ And he carried me away^(A) in the Spirit^(B) to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.^{(C) 11} It shone with the glory of God,^(D) and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper,^(E) clear as crystal.^{(F) 12} It had a great, high wall with twelve gates,^(G) and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.^{(H) 13} There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations,^(I) and on them were the names of the twelve apostles^(J) of the Lamb.

¹⁵ The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod^(K) of gold to measure the city, its gates^(L) and its walls. ¹⁶ The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia^[a] in length, and as wide and high as it is long. ¹⁷ The angel measured the wall using human^(M) measurement, and it was 144 cubits^[b] thick.^{[c] 18} The wall was made of jasper,^(N) and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.^{(O) 19} The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.^(P) The first foundation was jasper,^(Q) the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby,^(R) the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.^{[d] 21} The twelve gates^(S) were twelve pearls,^(T) each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.^(U)

²² I did not see a temple^(V) in the city, because the Lord God Almighty^(W) and the Lamb^(X) are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God^(Y) gives it light,^(Z) and the Lamb^(AA) is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.^{(AB) 25} On no day will its gates^(AC) ever be shut,^(AD) for there will be no night there.^{(AE) 26} The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.^{(AF) 27} Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,^(AG) but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.^(AH)

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb,^(A) standing on Mount Zion,^(B) and with him 144,000^(C) who had his name and his Father’s name^(D) written on their foreheads.^(E)