The New Heaven and Earth

21 Then I saw (A)a new heaven and a new earth; for (B)the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw (C)the holy city, (D)new Jerusalem, (E)coming down out of heaven from God, (F)prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, (G)the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will (H)dwell among them, and they shall be His [a]people, and God Himself will be among them[b], and He will (I)wipe away every tear from their eyes; and (J)there will no longer be any death; (K)there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; (L)the first things have passed away.”

And (M)He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am (N)making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for (O)these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “[c](P)It is done. I am the (Q)Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. (R)I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the (S)water of life, without cost. (T)The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and (U)I will be his God and he will be My son. (V)But for the cowardly, and [d]unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in (W)the lake that burns with fire and [e]brimstone, which is the (X)second death.”

(Y)Then one of the seven angels who had the (Z)seven bowls, [f]full of the (AA)seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “(AB)Come here, I will show you the (AC)bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

The New Jerusalem

10 And (AD)he carried me away [g](AE)in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me (AF)the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having (AG)the glory of God. Her [h]brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a (AH)stone of (AI)crystal-clear jasper. 12 [i]It had a great and high wall, [j](AJ)with twelve (AK)gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 And the wall of the city had (AL)twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the (AM)twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 The one who spoke with me had a [k]gold measuring (AN)rod to measure the city, its (AO)gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the [l]rod, [m]twelve thousand stadia; its length, width, and height are equal. 17 And he measured its wall, [n]144 cubits, by (AP)human [o]measurements, which are also (AQ)angelic measurements. 18 The material of the wall was (AR)jasper; and the city was (AS)pure gold, like [p]clear (AT)glass. 19 (AU)The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was (AV)jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, (AW)emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, (AX)sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21 And the twelve (AY)gates were twelve (AZ)pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was (BA)pure gold, like transparent (BB)glass.

22 I saw (BC)no [q]temple in it, for the (BD)Lord God the Almighty and the (BE)Lamb are its [r]temple. 23 And the city (BF)has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for (BG)the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the (BH)Lamb. 24 (BI)The nations will walk by its light, and the (BJ)kings of the earth [s]will bring their glory into it. 25 In the daytime (for (BK)there will be no night there) (BL)its gates (BM)will never be closed; 26 and (BN)they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; 27 and (BO)nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those [t]whose names are (BP)written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 21:3 Lit peoples
  2. Revelation 21:3 One early ms adds, as their God
  3. Revelation 21:6 Lit They are
  4. Revelation 21:8 Or untrustworthy
  5. Revelation 21:8 I.e., burning sulfur
  6. Revelation 21:9 Lit who were full; i.e., (previously) loaded with
  7. Revelation 21:10 Or in spirit
  8. Revelation 21:11 Or radiance
  9. Revelation 21:12 Lit having
  10. Revelation 21:12 Lit having
  11. Revelation 21:15 Lit measure, a gold reed
  12. Revelation 21:16 Lit reed
  13. Revelation 21:16 Possibly about 1,380 miles or 2,220 km; a Roman stadion perhaps averaged 607 ft. or 185 m
  14. Revelation 21:17 Possibly about 216 ft. or 65 m; a cubit is about 18 in. or 45 cm
  15. Revelation 21:17 Lit measure
  16. Revelation 21:18 Lit pure
  17. Revelation 21:22 Or sanctuary
  18. Revelation 21:22 Or sanctuary
  19. Revelation 21:24 Lit bring
  20. Revelation 21:27 Lit who have been written

Vision 7: The New Heaven And New Earth And New Jerusalem

21 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed-away. And there is no longer a sea[a]. And I saw the holy city— the new Jerusalem— coming down out of heaven from God, having been prepared like a bride having been adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying “Behold— the dwelling[b] of God is with mankind. And He will dwell with them. And they themselves will be His peoples[c]. And God Himself with them will be their God. And He will wipe-away every tear from their eyes[d]. And there will no longer be death, nor will there be mourning nor crying nor pain any longer, because the first things passed away”. And the One sitting on the throne said, “Behold— I am making all things new”. And he[e] says, “Write, because these words are trustworthy[f] and true”. And He said to me, “They[g] are done[h]. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the one thirsting, I will give from the spring of the water of life as-a-gift[i]. The one overcoming will inherit these things, and I will be God to him and he will be a son to Me. But for the cowardly[j] ones, and unbelieving[k] ones, and ones having been abominable[l], and murderers, and sexually-immoral ones, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the liars— their part[m] will be in the lake burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death”.

The Home of The Bride of The Lamb: The New Jerusalem

And one of the seven angels[n] having the seven bowls being-full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying “Come, I will show you the bride[o], the wife of the Lamb”. 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit[p] to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, the brilliance of it resembling a very-precious stone like a jasper stone, shining-like-crystal[q]; 12 having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names having been inscribed— which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 Three gates from the east, and three gates from the north, and three gates from the south, and three gates from the west. 14 And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And the one speaking with me had a golden measuring rod, in order that he might measure the city and its gates and its wall. 16 And the city lies square— indeed its length is as much as also the width. And he measured the city with the rod, a-matter-of twelve thousand stades[r]. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 And he measured its wall— a hundred forty four cubits[s] (a human’s measure, which is an angel’s [also]). 18 And the material of [t] its wall is jasper, and the city is pure gold resembling pure[u] glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city have been adorned with every precious stone. The first foundation is jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; 20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, carnelian; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, hyacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls— individually, each one of the gates was from one pearl. And the wide-road of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 And I did not see a temple in it, for its temple[v] is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of the sun nor the moon, in order that they might shine on it. For the glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 And the nations will walk by its light. And the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. 25 And its gates will never be shut by day[w]— for night will not exist there. 26 And they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 And every defiled thing, and the one doing abomination and falsehood, will never enter into it, but only the ones having been written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 21:1 This may refer to the sea on the ‘first’ earth, completing that idea (passed-away, and...); or it may be referring to the state of things on the new earth.
  2. Revelation 21:3 Or, tent, tabernacle.
  3. Revelation 21:3 That is, people groups. Or, people.
  4. Revelation 21:4 Same phrase as in 7:17.
  5. Revelation 21:5 That is, the angel with John. Note the change of tense from “said.” Or, He says.
  6. Revelation 21:5 Or, faithful.
  7. Revelation 21:6 That is, all things in v 5.
  8. Revelation 21:6 Or, have taken place, have come to pass. These things stand as done from God’s point of view.
  9. Revelation 21:6 Or, freely.
  10. Revelation 21:8 Or, timid, afraid to act on what God has said.
  11. Revelation 21:8 Or, faithless.
  12. Revelation 21:8 Or, detestable, abhorrent, vile.
  13. Revelation 21:8 Or, share. That is, inheritance.
  14. Revelation 21:9 That is, another of the angels from 17:1-3 again gives John a guided tour to show him more detail.
  15. Revelation 21:9 That is, the destiny of the bride, the place where she will be.
  16. Revelation 21:10 Or, in spirit. See 1:10.
  17. Revelation 21:11 Or, being-clear-like-crystal.
  18. Revelation 21:16 12,000 stades is about 1,380 miles or 2,220 kilometers.
  19. Revelation 21:17 144 cubits (forearms) is about 216 feet or 66 meters.
  20. Revelation 21:18 That is, making up; or, built into.
  21. Revelation 21:18 That is, clear; or, bright.
  22. Revelation 21:22 That is, God is worshiped in person, face to face, not in a special place.
  23. Revelation 21:25 That is, during the daytime, in anticipation of darkness.