Revelation 22
New American Standard Bible
The River and the Tree of Life
22 And (A)he showed me a (B)river of the (C)water of life, [a]clear (D)as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of [b]the Lamb, 2 in the middle of (E)its street. (F)On either side of the river was (G)the tree of life, bearing twelve [c]kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 (H)There will no longer be any curse; and (I)the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will (J)serve Him; 4 they will (K)see His face, and His (L)name will be on their (M)foreheads. 5 And (N)there will no longer be any night; and they [d]will not have need (O)of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illuminate them; and they will (P)reign forever and ever.
6 And (Q)he said to me, “(R)These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the (S)God of the spirits of the prophets, (T)sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.
7 “And behold, (U)I am coming quickly. (V)Blessed is the one who [e]keeps (W)the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 (X)I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, (Y)I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 And (Z)he *said to me, “[f]Do not do that; I am a (AA)fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who [g]keep the words of (AB)this book. Worship God!”
The Final Message
10 And he *said to me, “(AC)Do not seal up (AD)the words of the prophecy of this book, (AE)for the time is near. 11 (AF)Let the one who does wrong still do wrong, and the one who is filthy still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous still practice righteousness, and the one who is holy still keep himself holy.”
12 “Behold, (AG)I am coming quickly, and My (AH)reward is with Me, (AI)to reward each one as his work [h]deserves. 13 I am the (AJ)Alpha and the Omega, (AK)the first and the last, (AL)the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who (AM)wash their robes, so that they will have the right to (AN)the tree of life, and may (AO)enter the city by the (AP)gates. 15 (AQ)Outside are the (AR)dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
16 “(AS)I, Jesus, have sent (AT)My angel to testify to you of these things [i](AU)for the churches. I am (AV)the root and the (AW)descendant of David, the bright (AX)morning star.”
17 The (AY)Spirit and the (AZ)bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And (BA)let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires, take the (BB)water of life without cost.
18 I testify to everyone who hears (BC)the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone (BD)adds to them, God will add to him (BE)the plagues that are written in (BF)this book; 19 and if anyone (BG)takes away from the (BH)words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from (BI)the tree of life and [j]from the holy city, (BJ)which are written in this book.
20 He who (BK)testifies to these things says, “Yes, (BL)I am coming quickly.” Amen. (BM)Come, Lord Jesus.
21 (BN)The grace of the Lord Jesus be with [k]all. Amen.
Footnotes
- Revelation 22:1 Lit bright
- Revelation 22:1 Or the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was
- Revelation 22:2 Or crops of fruit
- Revelation 22:5 Lit do not have
- Revelation 22:7 Or follows
- Revelation 22:9 Lit See that you do not
- Revelation 22:9 Or follows
- Revelation 22:12 Lit is
- Revelation 22:16 Or concerning
- Revelation 22:19 Lit out of
- Revelation 22:21 One early ms the saints
Revelation 22
Contemporary English Version
22 (A) The angel showed me a river that was crystal clear, and its waters gave life. The river came from the throne where God and the Lamb were seated. 2 (B) Then it flowed down the middle of the city's main street. On each side of the river are trees[a] that grow a different kind of fruit each month of the year. The fruit gives life, and the leaves are used as medicine to heal the nations.
3 (C) God's curse will no longer be on the people of that city. He and the Lamb will be seated there on their thrones, and its people will worship God 4 (D) and will see him face to face. God's name will be written on the foreheads of the people. 5 (E) Never again will night appear, and no one who lives there will ever need a lamp or the sun. The Lord God will be their light, and they will rule forever.
The Coming of Christ
6 Then I was told:
These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord God controls the spirits of his prophets, and he is the one who sent his angel to show his servants what must happen very soon. 7 Remember, I am coming soon! God will bless everyone who pays attention to the message of this book.
8 My name is John, and I am the one who heard and saw these things. Then after I had heard and seen all this, I knelt down and began to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown it to me.
9 But the angel said,
Don't do that! I am a servant, just like you. I am the same as a follower or a prophet or anyone else who obeys what is written in this book. God is the one you should worship.
10 Don't keep the prophecies in this book a secret. These things will happen soon.
11 (F) Evil people will keep on being evil, and everyone who is dirty-minded will still be dirty-minded. But good people will keep on doing right, and God's people will always be holy.
12 (G) Then I was told:
I am coming soon! And when I come, I will reward everyone for what they have done. 13 (H) I am Alpha and Omega,[b] the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
14 (I) God will bless all who have washed their robes. They will each have the right to eat fruit from the tree that gives life, and they can enter the gates of the city. 15 But outside the city will be dogs, witches, immoral people, murderers, idol worshipers, and everyone who loves to tell lies and do wrong.
16 (J) I am Jesus! And I am the one who sent my angel to tell all of you these things for the churches. I am David's Great Descendant,[c] and I am also the bright morning star.[d]
17 (K) The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
Everyone who hears this[e] should say, “Come!”
If you are thirsty, come! If you want life-giving water, come and take it. It's free!
18 (L) Here is my warning for everyone who hears the prophecies in this book:
If you add anything to them, God will make you suffer all the terrible troubles written in this book. 19 If you take anything away from these prophecies, God will not let you have part in the life-giving tree and in the holy city described in this book.
20 The one who has spoken these things says, “I am coming soon!”
So, Lord Jesus, please come soon!
21 I pray that the Lord Jesus will be kind to all of you.
Footnotes
- 22.2 trees: The Greek has “tree,” which is used in a collective sense of trees on both sides of the heavenly river.
- 22.13 Alpha and Omega: See the note at 1.8.
- 22.16 David's Great Descendant: See the note at 5.5.
- 22.16 the bright morning star: Probably thought of as the brightest star (see 2.27,28).
- 22.17 who hears this: The reading of the book of Revelation in a service of worship.
Revelation 22
King James Version
22 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
