Revelation 22
New King James Version
The River of Life
22 And he showed me (A)a [a]pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 (B)In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was (C)the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were (D)for the healing of the nations. 3 And (E)there shall be no more curse, (F)but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His (G)servants shall serve Him. 4 (H)They shall see His face, and (I)His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 (J)There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor (K)light of the sun, for (L)the Lord God gives them light. (M)And they shall reign forever and ever.
The Time Is Near
6 Then he said to me, (N)“These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the [b]holy prophets (O)sent His angel to show His servants the things which must (P)shortly take place.
7 (Q)“Behold, I am coming quickly! (R)Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 Now I, John, [c]saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, (S)I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
9 Then he said to me, (T)“See that you do not do that. [d]For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” 10 (U)And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, (V)for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him [e]be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
Jesus Testifies to the Churches
12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and (W)My reward is with Me, (X)to give to every one according to his work. 13 (Y)I am the Alpha and the Omega, the [f]Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
14 (Z)Blessed are those who [g]do His commandments, that they may have the right (AA)to the tree of life, (AB)and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 [h]But (AC)outside are (AD)dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
16 (AE)“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. (AF)I am the Root and the Offspring of David, (AG)the Bright and Morning Star.”
17 And the Spirit and (AH)the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” (AI)And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
A Warning
18 [i]For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: (AJ)If anyone adds to these things, [j]God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, (AK)God[k] shall take away his part from the [l]Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
I Am Coming Quickly
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be [m]with you all. Amen.
Footnotes
- Revelation 22:1 NU, M omit pure
- Revelation 22:6 NU, M spirits of the prophets
- Revelation 22:8 NU, M am the one who heard and saw
- Revelation 22:9 NU, M omit For
- Revelation 22:11 NU, M do right
- Revelation 22:13 NU, M First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
- Revelation 22:14 NU wash their robes,
- Revelation 22:15 NU, M omit But
- Revelation 22:18 NU, M omit For
- Revelation 22:18 M may God add
- Revelation 22:19 M may God take away
- Revelation 22:19 NU, M tree of life
- Revelation 22:21 NU with all; M with all the saints
Revelation 22
Living Bible
22 And he pointed out to me a river of pure Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, 2 coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew Trees of Life,[a] bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
3 There shall be nothing in the city that is evil; for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will be their light; and they shall reign forever and ever.
6-7 Then the angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true: ‘I am coming soon!’[b] God, who tells his prophets what the future holds, has sent his angel to tell you this will happen soon. Blessed are those who believe it and all else written in the scroll.”
8 I, John, saw and heard all these things, and fell down to worship the angel who showed them to me; 9 but again he said, “No, don’t do anything like that. I, too, am a servant of Jesus as you are, and as your brothers the prophets are, as well as all those who heed the truth stated in this book. Worship God alone.”
10 Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up what you have written, for the time of fulfillment is near. 11 And when that time comes, all doing wrong will do it more and more; the vile will become more vile; good men will be better; those who are holy will continue on in greater holiness.”
12 “See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone according to the deeds he has done. 13 I am the A and the Z, the Beginning and the End, the First and Last. 14 Blessed forever are all who are washing their robes, to have the right to enter in through the gates of the city and to eat the fruit from the Tree of Life.
15 “Outside the city are those who have strayed away from God, and the sorcerers and the immoral and murderers and idolaters, and all who love to lie, and do so.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you to tell the churches all these things. I am both David’s Root and his Descendant. I am the bright Morning Star. 17 The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let each one who hears them say the same, ‘Come.’ Let the thirsty one come—anyone who wants to; let him come and drink the Water of Life without charge. 18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who reads this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God shall add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone subtracts any part of these prophecies, God shall take away his share in the Tree of Life, and in the Holy City just described.
20 “He who has said all these things declares: Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!
Footnotes
- Revelation 22:2 Trees of Life, literally, “The tree of life”—used here as a collective noun, implying plurality.
- Revelation 22:6 soon, or “suddenly,” “unexpectedly”; also in vv. 12 and 20.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.