Book of Common Prayer

¹¹ Then I saw a big white throne and the person sitting on it. The earth and sky went away from him. They were not there any more.

¹² I saw the dead people, those who were great and those not great. They were standing in front of God's throne. Some books were opened. And another book was opened which is the book of life. The dead people were judged by the things they had done, which were written in the books.

¹³ The dead people in the sea came out. People came out of death and the world of the dead. One by one, each one was judged by the things he had done.

¹⁴ Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the big fire. This fire is the second death.

¹⁵ Every person whose name was not written in the book of life was thrown into this big fire.

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had gone away. There was no sea any more.

² I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It was all ready and waiting, like a woman dressed for her wedding and ready to meet her husband.

³ I heard a loud voice in heaven. It said, `Look! God's house is now set up among the people. God will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them.

⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. No one will die. No one will ever cry or be sad for any reason. No one will ever have trouble. The old things are gone.'

⁵ The One who sat on the throne said, `Look, I make all things new.' And he said, `Write this, because these words can be trusted. they are true.'

⁶ He said to me, `It is finished! I am the First and the Last! I am the Beginning and the End. I will give the river of water that gives life to those who are thirsty. It will cost no money.

⁷ The one who wins will have these things. I will be his God and he will be my son.

⁸ Some people will be thrown into the big fire which burns with sulphur dust that chokes people. These are the people: those who give in to fear, those who do not believe, those who are bad, those who kill, those with wrong ways of using sex, the witch-doctors, those who worship idols, and all those who love lies. That fire is the second death.'

⁵ When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah. He was one of a group of priests, and Abijah was their leader. Zechariah's wife Elizabeth came from the family of Aaron.

⁶ Both of them were good people as God saw them. They obeyed all the laws and the things that the Lord said they should do.

⁷ But they had no children. Elizabeth was not able to have a baby and they were both very old.

⁸ Zechariah was doing his work one day as a priest to God. It was time for his group to do the work in the temple.

⁹ The priests had a certain way of dividing their work. This day it was Zechariah's turn to go into the temple of the Lord and burn the incense [that smells sweet when it is burned].

¹⁰ All the people were talking to God outside the temple at this time.

¹¹ An angel of the Lord came to Zechariah. He was standing on the right side of the incense table.

¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was surprised and afraid.

¹³ But the angel said, `Do not be afraid, Zechariah. You have been talking to God. He has heard you. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son. Name him John.

¹⁴ `You will be glad and happy. Many people will be glad when he is born.

¹⁵ He will be great in the way the Lord calls people great. He must not drink wine or any strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he is born.

¹⁶ He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

¹⁷ He will go ahead of the Lord. He will have the spirit and power of Elijah. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children. And he will bring back the people who do not obey, so that they will want to do what good people do. He will make people ready for the Lord.'

¹⁸ Then Zechariah said to the angel, `How can I know that this will happen? I am an old man and my wife is also old.'

¹⁹ The angel answered him, `I am Gabriel and I stand before God. I have been sent to talk to you and to bring you this good news.

²⁰ Now listen. You will be silent and not be able to talk until the day that all this has happened. This is because you did not believe what I told you. At the right time all that I said will come true.'

²¹ the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the temple. They were surprised that he stayed in so long.

²² When he came out, he could not talk to them. They knew that he had seen something in the temple. He made signs to them with his hands and did not talk.

²³ When his time for doing the work of a priest was finished, Zechariah went home.

²⁴ After that, his wife Elizabeth found she was going to have a baby. For five months she stayed away from people.

²⁵ She said to herself, `The Lord has done this for me. At this time he has remembered me so that I need not be ashamed among people anymore.'