Old/New Testament
The Lord takes away the sin of the people
13 ‘On that day, water will start to pour from a fountain for King David's descendants and Jerusalem's people. It will make them clean from their sins and the dirty things that they have done.’
2 The Lord Almighty says, ‘On that day, I will remove the names of false gods from the country. Everyone will forget them. I will remove all the false prophets. And I will remove the bad spirit that is not holy.
3 And if anyone appears as a prophet again, his father and his mother will say to him, “You must die. You do not speak true words. The Lord has not spoken to you.” Then they will kill him.
4 On that day, every prophet will be ashamed that he was ever a prophet. He will not put on the clothes of a prophet that they make from hair. Then people will not know that he is a prophet.
5 He will say, “I am not a prophet. I am a farmer. From the time that I was a boy, I have worked on the land.”
6 If someone asks him, “Who cut your body?” he will answer, “My friends cut me when I was at their house.” ’
Kill the shepherd and the sheep will run away
7 ‘Attack my shepherd with a sharp knife.
Attack the man that is next to me,’
says the Lord Almighty.
‘Kill the shepherd and then the sheep will run away.
Then I will attack the young sheep.
8 In the whole country,’ says the Lord,
‘two thirds of the people will die.
But one third will still be living there.
9 I will bring these people through fire.
As men clean silver in the fire, so I will clean them.
As men test gold in the fire, so I will test them.
They will speak my name and I will answer them.
I will say, “They are my people.”
They will say, “The Lord is our God.” ’
The Lord comes
14 There will be a day when your enemies will take away everything. They will take away everything that is yours. They will each have some of your things.
2 I will bring soldiers from all countries to fight against Jerusalem. They will go into the city and they will rob the houses. They will have sex with the women. They will lead away half the people to other countries. They will let the other half stay in Jerusalem.
3 Then the Lord will go out. And he will fight against the people from those countries as in past years.
4 On that day, the Lord's feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. This mountain is east of Jerusalem. It will break in two from east to west and it will make a wide valley. Half of the mountain will move north and half of the mountain will move south.
5 In the time of Uzziah, king of Judah, you ran away when the earth moved. You will do this again. Then the Lord will come. And all those who are holy will come with him.[a]
6 On that day, it will not be light in some places and dark in other places.
7 It will be a day like no other day. There will be no night. When it is evening, there will still be light. Only the Lord himself will know that day.
8 On that day, water will come out from Jerusalem. Half of this water will go towards the sea in the east. Half of this water will go towards the sea in the west. This will go on during summer and winter.
9 The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day, there will be only one Lord and he will have only one name.
10 All the land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become flat. But Jerusalem will rise and it will be high in its place. The city will be from the Gate of Benjamin to the Corner Gate and to the High Building of Hananel. The place where the servants of the king make his wine will be in it too.
11 Jerusalem will be safe. People will live there. Nobody will destroy Jerusalem ever again.
12 The Lord will make the people sick that fought against Jerusalem. Their bodies will become bad as they stand on their feet. Their eyes will become bad and they will fall out. And their tongues will become bad in their mouths.
13 On that day, the Lord will make men so afraid that each man will attack the man next to him.
14 Judah also will go to Jerusalem and they will fight. They will take every good thing from all the countries. There will be a lot of expensive metals and many rich clothes.
15 The horses and all the other animals will be sick. And they will die as the soldiers died.
16 Some of the soldiers from the countries that attacked Jerusalem will not die. They will go to Jerusalem year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty. They will worship him at the Feast of Huts.[b]
17 All the people on the earth will have to go to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty. If any people on the earth do not go, they will have no rain.
18 If the people from Egypt do not go to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, they will have no rain. And the Lord will make them sick. If the people from other countries will not go to Jerusalem, the Lord will make them sick. They will die.
19 This will happen to the people from Egypt. This will happen to the people from all the countries that do not go up to Jerusalem at that time.
20 On that day, men will write the words, ‘This is for the Lord’ on the bells of the horses. The pots that anyone uses to cook with in the house of the Lord will be special. They will be as special as the dishes in front of the altar.
21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be for the Lord Almighty. All the people who come to offer animals to the Lord will cook in those pots. On that day, nobody who sells things will come into the house of the Lord Almighty.
The new heaven and the new earth
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had gone away. The sea also was not there any more. 2 I saw God's own holy city, called the new Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. It was very beautiful, like a bride who is wearing beautiful clothes, ready to meet her husband.
3 I heard a voice that spoke loudly from the throne. It said, ‘Look! God's home is now among people! God will live together with them. They will be his people. God himself will be with them and he will be their God. 4 God will take away all the tears from their eyes. Nobody will ever die again. Nobody will be sad again. Nobody will ever cry. Nobody will have pain again. Everything that made people sad has now gone. That old world has completely gone away.’
5 God, who was sitting on the throne, said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, because these words are true. Everyone should believe them.’
6 He also said to me, ‘Everything is now done! I caused all things to begin and I will cause the end of all things. I am the beginning and the end. If anyone is thirsty, I will give them water to drink. Nobody will have to pay anything for it. That water comes from a spring of water that gives life to people. 7 Everyone who wins against Satan will receive all these things from me. I will be their God and they will be my children.
8 But I will punish other people. They include:
people who are afraid of trouble;
people who do not believe in Jesus;
people who do disgusting things;
people who murder other people;
people who have sex in a wrong way;
people who use magic to hurt people;
people who worship idols;
people who tell lies.
All these people will go into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. That is the second death for people.’
New city of Jerusalem
9 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls that were full of the seven final troubles came to me. He said, ‘Come with me! I will show you the bride who will become the Lamb's wife.’
10 Then God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a great mountain that was very high. He showed me God's own holy city, Jerusalem. The city was coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It had the bright glory of God. It shone like a valuable jewel that is called jasper. It shone like clean glass. 12 The city had a very big, high wall round it. The wall had 12 gates in it. 12 angels stood at the 12 gates. The names of the 12 tribes of Israel's people were written on the 12 gates. 13 There were three gates on each side of the city:
three gates were on the east side,
three gates were on the north side,
three gates were on the south side,
three gates were on the west side.
14 The city's wall has a foundation of 12 strong stones. The names of the Lamb's 12 apostles were written on those 12 stones.[a]
15 The angel who talked to me had a long gold stick. He used it to measure things. So he could measure the city and its gates and its walls. 16 The shape of the city was a square. It was as long as it was wide. The angel measured the city with his stick. It was 12,000 stadia (2,400 kilometres) long. It was as wide and as high as it was long. 17 He also measured its wall. The size of the wall was 144 cubits (65 metres). That is the way that humans measure things. The angel also measured in the same way.[b]
18 The wall was made from the jewel that is called jasper. The city was made from pure gold. The light shone through it, as light shines through clean glass. 19 The strong stones that were the foundation of the city's wall were very beautiful. They had valuable jewels in them that were different colours. Each great stone had its own special jewel. They were called:
1. Jasper;
2. Sapphire;
3. Agate;
4. Emerald;
20 5. Onyx;
6. Carnelian;
7. Quartz;
8. Beryl;
9. Topaz;
10. Chrysoprase;[c]
11. Jacinth;
12. Amethyst.
21 The 12 gates were 12 pearls. They had used a single pearl to make each gate. The city's biggest street was made from pure gold. The light shone through it, as light shines through clean glass.
22 When I looked, I saw that there was no temple in the city. The Lord God, who has all power and authority, is there himself. The Lamb is also there. So people do not need a special place to worship him there. 23 Also, the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. God's bright glory gives light to the city. The Lamb is the lamp that gives it light.
24 People from all the world's nations will live in the city's light. The earth's rulers will bring all their valuable things into it. 25 Nobody will ever shut the city's gates at the end of the day. It will always be day and there will be no night there. 26 People from all the world's nations will bring their beautiful and valuable things into the city. 27 But nothing that is bad or unclean will ever go in there. Nobody who does anything that God hates will go into the city. Nobody who tells lies will go in. Only those people with their names written in the Lamb's book of life can go in there.[d]
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