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 Lord's Faithless Bride

16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)make known to Jerusalem her abominations, ³ and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an ^(C)Amorite and your mother a ^(D)Hittite. ⁴ And as for your birth, ^(E)on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. ⁵ No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, ^(F)but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, ^(G)on the day that you were born.

⁶ “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing ^(H)in your blood, I said to you ^(I)in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you ^(J)in your blood, ‘Live!’ ^7 (K)I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall ^(L)and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet ^(M)you were naked and bare.

⁸ “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and ^(N)I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you ^(O)and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, ^(P)and you became mine. ⁹ Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and ^(Q)anointed you with oil. ^10 (R)I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.^{[a] 11 (S)}And I adorned you with ornaments and ^(T)put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. ¹² And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. ^(U)You ate fine flour and honey and oil. ^(V)You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. ¹⁴ And ^(W)your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.

^15 (X)“But you trusted in your beauty ^(Y)and played the whore^[b] because of your renown ^(Z)and lavished your whorings^[c] on any passerby; your beauty^[d] became his. ¹⁶ You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be.^{[e] 17} You also took ^(AA)your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and ^(AB)made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. ¹⁸ And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, ^(AC)and set my oil and my incense before them. ^19 (AD)Also my bread that I gave you—^(AE)I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for ^(AF)a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. ^20 (AG)And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and ^(AH)these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter ²¹ that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? ²² And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember ^(AI)the days of your youth, ^(AJ)when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.

²³ “And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord God), ²⁴ you built yourself ^(AK)a vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. ²⁵ At the head of every street ^(AL)you built your lofty place and made ^(AM)your beauty an abomination, ^(AN)offering yourself^[f] to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. ^26 (AO)You also played the whore ^(AP)with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, ^(AQ)multiplying your whoring, ^(AR)to provoke me to anger. ²⁷ Behold, therefore, I stretched out my hand against you ^(AS)and diminished your allotted portion ^(AT)and delivered you to the greed of your enemies, ^(AU)the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. ^28 (AV)You played the whore also ^(AW)with the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied; yes, you played the whore with them, and still you were not satisfied. ²⁹ You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land ^(AX)of Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.

³⁰ “How sick is your heart,^[g] declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, ³¹ building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, ^(AY)because you scorned payment. ³² Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! ³³ Men give gifts to all prostitutes, ^(AZ)but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. ³⁴ So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and ^(BA)you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

³⁵ “Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: ³⁶ Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, ^(BB)and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, ³⁷ therefore, behold, ^(BC)I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and ^(BD)all those you hated. ^(BE)I will gather them against you from every side ^(BF)and will uncover your nakedness to them, that ^(BG)they may see all your nakedness. ^38 (BH)And I will judge you ^(BI)as women who commit adultery and ^(BJ)shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. ³⁹ And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your ^(BK)vaulted chamber and break down ^(BL)your lofty places. ^(BM)They shall strip you of your clothes and take ^(BN)your beautiful jewels and leave you ^(BO)naked and bare. ^40 (BP)They shall bring up a crowd against you, ^(BQ)and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. ^41 (BR)And they shall ^(BS)burn your houses and ^(BT)execute judgments upon you in the sight of many women. ^(BU)I will make you stop playing the whore, and ^(BV)you shall also give payment no more. ^42 (BW)So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry. ⁴³ Because you have not remembered ^(BX)the days of your youth, but have enraged me with all these things, therefore, behold, ^(BY)I have returned your deeds upon your head, declares the Lord God. Have you not ^(BZ)committed lewdness in addition to all your abominations?

⁴⁴ “Behold, everyone ^(CA)who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ ⁴⁵ You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and her children; and you are the sister of ^(CB)your sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. ^(CC)Your mother was a Hittite and ^(CD)your father an Amorite. ⁴⁶ And ^(CE)your elder sister is Samaria, who lived with her daughters to the north of you; and ^(CF)your younger sister, who lived to the south of you, is Sodom with her daughters. ^47 (CG)Not only did you walk in their ways and do according to their abominations; within a very little time ^(CH)you were more corrupt than they in all your ways. ^48 (CI)As I live, declares the Lord God, your sister ^(CJ)Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. ⁴⁹ Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, ^(CK)excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ They were haughty and ^(CL)did an abomination before me. So ^(CM)I removed them, when I saw it. ^51 (CN)Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have committed more abominations than they, and ^(CO)have made your sisters appear righteous by all the abominations that you have committed. ^52 (CP)Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

^53 (CQ)“I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, ⁵⁴ that you may bear your disgrace ^(CR)and be ashamed of all that you have done, ^(CS)becoming a consolation to them. ⁵⁵ As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, ^(CT)and Samaria and her daughters shall return ^(CU)to their former state, ^(CV)and you and your daughters shall return ^(CW)to your former state. ⁵⁶ Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth ^(CX)in the day of your pride, ⁵⁷ before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become ^(CY)an object of reproach for the daughters of Syria^[h] and all those around her, and for ^(CZ)the daughters of the Philistines, ^(DA)those all around who despise you. ^58 (DB)You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the Lord.

The Lord's Everlasting Covenant

⁵⁹ “For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you ^(DC)who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant, ⁶⁰ yet ^(DD)I will remember my covenant with you ^(DE)in the days of your youth, ^(DF)and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. ^61 (DG)Then you will remember your ways ^(DH)and be ashamed when you take ^(DI)your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you ^(DJ)as daughters, but not on account of^[i] the covenant with you. ⁶² I will establish my covenant with you, ^(DK)and you shall know that I am the Lord, ⁶³ that you may remember and be confounded, and ^(DL)never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”