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. ² 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. ³ 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], ⁴ 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.”

⁵ 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.” ⁶ 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. ^7 (T)The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and ^(U)I will be his God and he will be My son. ^8 (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.”

^9 (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.

God’s Love for Jacob

1 The ^(A)pronouncement of the word of the Lord to ^(B)Israel through ^[a]Malachi:

² “I have ^(C)loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was Esau not Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I ^(D)have loved Jacob; ³ but I have hated Esau, and I have ^(E)made his mountains a desolation and given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.” ⁴ Though Edom says, “We have been ^(F)beaten down, but we will ^[b](G)return and build up the ruins”; this is what the Lord of armies says: “They may ^(H)build, but I will tear down; and people will call them the ^[c]territory of wickedness, and the people ^[d]with whom the Lord is indignant ^(I)forever.” ⁵ And your eyes will see this, and you will say, “^(J)The Lord ^[e]be exalted beyond the ^[f]border of Israel!”

Sin of the Priests

⁶ “‘A son ^(K)honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a ^(L)father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My ^[g]respect?’ says the Lord of armies to you, the ^(M)priests who despise My name! But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ ⁷ You are presenting ^(N)defiled ^[h](O)food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The ^(P)table of the Lord is to be despised.’ ⁸ And when you present a ^(Q)blind animal for sacrifice, is it not evil? Or when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not evil? So offer it to your ^(R)governor! Would he be pleased with you, or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord of armies. ⁹ “But now, do indeed ^(S)plead for God’s favor, so that He will be gracious to us. ^[i]With such an offering on your part, will He ^(T)receive any of you kindly?” says the Lord of armies. ¹⁰ “If only there were one among you who would ^(U)shut the ^[j]gates, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar for nothing! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of armies, “^(V)nor will I accept an offering from your hand. ¹¹ For from the ^(W)rising of the sun even to its setting, ^(X)My name shall be ^(Y)great among the nations, and in every place ^(Z)frankincense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name shall be ^(AA)great among the nations,” says the Lord of armies. ¹² “But you are ^(AB)profaning it by your saying, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is to be despised.’ ¹³ You also say, ‘See, ^[k]how ^(AC)tiresome it is!’ And you view it as trivial,” says the Lord of armies, “and you bring what was taken by ^(AD)robbery and what is ^(AE)lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I ^(AF)accept it from your hand?” says the Lord. ¹⁴ “But cursed be the ^(AG)swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a ^(AH)blemished animal to the Lord, for I am a great ^(AI)King,” says the Lord of armies, “and My name is ^[l](AJ)feared among the ^[m]nations.”

Priests to Be Disciplined

2 “And now, this commandment is for you, the priests. ² If you do ^(AK)not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of armies, “then I will send the ^(AL)curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have ^(AM)cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. ³ Behold, I am going to ^(AN)rebuke your ^[n]descendants, and I will ^(AO)spread ^[o]dung on your faces, the ^[p]dung of your ^(AP)feasts; and you will be taken away ^[q]with it. ⁴ Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, ^[r]so that My ^(AQ)covenant may ^[s]continue with Levi,” says the Lord of armies. ⁵ “My covenant with him was one of life and ^(AR)peace, and I gave them to him as an object of ^[t]reverence; so he ^[u](AS)revered Me and was in awe of My name. ^6 [v](AT)True instruction was in his mouth and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked ^(AU)with Me in peace and justice, and he ^(AV)turned many back from wrongdoing. ⁷ For the lips of a priest should maintain ^(AW)knowledge, and people should ^(AX)seek ^[w]instruction from his mouth; for he is the ^(AY)messenger of the Lord of armies. ⁸ But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to ^(AZ)stumble ^[x]by the instruction; you have ^(BA)ruined the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of armies. ⁹ “So ^(BB)I also have made you despised and of ^(BC)low reputation ^[y]in the view of all the people, since you are not keeping My ways but are showing ^(BD)partiality in the ^[z]instruction.”

Sin in the Family

¹⁰ Do we not all have ^(BE)one Father? ^(BF)Is it not one God who has created us? Why do we deal ^(BG)treacherously, each against his brother so as to profane the ^(BH)covenant of our fathers? ¹¹ Judah has dealt ^(BI)treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has ^(BJ)profaned the sanctuary of the Lord ^[aa]which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. ¹² As for the man who does this, may the ^(BK)Lord eliminate from the tents of Jacob everyone who is awake and answers, or who ^(BL)presents ^[ab]an offering to the Lord of armies.

¹³ And this is ^[ac]another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and sighing, because He ^(BM)no longer gives attention to the ^[ad]offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ¹⁴ Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the ^(BN)wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt ^(BO)treacherously, though she is your marriage companion and your wife by covenant. ^15 [ae]But not one has ^(BP)done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And ^[af]why the one? He was seeking a ^(BQ)godly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals ^(BR)treacherously against the wife of your youth. ¹⁶ “For ^[ag]I hate ^[ah](BS)divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and ^[ai]him who covers his garment with ^(BT)violence,” says the Lord of armies. “So be careful about your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

¹⁷ You have ^(BU)wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “^(BV)Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He ^(BW)delights in them,” or, “^(BX)Where is the God of ^(BY)justice?”