The River of Life

22 Then the angel1 showed me xthe river of ythe water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of zthe street of the city; aalso, on either side of the river, bthe tree of life2 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were cfor the healing of the nations. 3 dNo longer will there be anything accursed, but ethe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and fhis servants will worship him. 4 gThey will see his face, and hhis name will be on their foreheads. 5 And inight will be no more. They will need no light of lamp jor sun, for kthe Lord God will be their light, and lthey will reign forever and ever.

Jesus Is Coming

6 And he said to me, m“These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of nthe spirits of the prophets, ohas sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

7 “And behold, pI am coming soon. qBlessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

8 I, rJohn, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, sI fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 sbut he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those mwho keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

10 And he said to me, t“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 uLet the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

12 “Behold, vI am coming soon, wbringing my recompense with me, xto repay each one for what he has done. 13 yI am the Alpha and the Omega, zthe first and the last, athe beginning and the end.”

14 Blessed are those who bwash their robes,5 so that they may have the right to cthe tree of life and that dthey may enter the city by the gates. 15 eOutside are fthe dogs gand sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 h“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things ifor the churches. I am jthe root and kthe descendant of David, lthe bright morning star.”

17 The Spirit and mthe Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And nlet the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the owater of life without price.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: pif anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in qthe tree of life and in rthe holy city, which are described in this book.

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely sI am coming soon.” Amen. tCome, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.6 Amen.

The Fall of Babylon

18 After this I saw nanother angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and othe earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,

p“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

She has become qa dwelling place for demons,

a haunt rfor every unclean spirit,

a haunt sfor every unclean bird,

a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

3  For all nations have drunk1

tthe wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,

and uthe kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,

and vthe merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

w“Come out of her, my people,

lest you take part in her sins,

lest you share in her plagues;

5  for xher sins are heaped high as heaven,

and yGod has remembered her iniquities.

6  zPay her back as she herself has paid back others,

and repay her adouble for her deeds;

mix a double portion for her bin the cup she mixed.

7  cAs she glorified herself and lived in luxury,

so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,

since in her heart she says,

d‘I sit as a queen,

I am no widow,

and mourning I shall never see.’

8  For this reason her plagues will come ein a single day,

death and mourning and famine,

and fshe will be burned up with fire;

for gmighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

9 And hthe kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, iwill weep and wail over her jwhen they see the smoke of her burning. 10 kThey will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

“Alas! Alas! lYou great city,

you mighty city, Babylon!

For min a single hour your judgment has come.”

11 And nthe merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.2

14  “The fruit for which your soul longed

has gone from you,

and all your delicacies and your splendors

are lost to you,

never to be found again!”

15 oThe merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, pwill stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

16  “Alas, alas, for the great city

qthat was clothed in fine linen,

in purple and scarlet,

adorned with gold,

with jewels, and with pearls!

17  For rin a single hour all this wealth shas been laid waste.”

And tall shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and ucried out vas they saw the smoke of her burning,

w“What city was like the great city?”

19 And they threw xdust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

“Alas, alas, for the great city

ywhere all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For zin a single hour she has been laid waste.

20  aRejoice over her, O heaven,

and you saints and bapostles and prophets,

for cGod has given judgment for you against her!”

21 Then da mighty angel etook up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“So will Babylon fthe great city be thrown down with violence,

and will be found no more;

22  and gthe sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,

will be heard in you no more,

and a craftsman of any craft

will be found in you no more,

and hthe sound of the mill

will be heard in you no more,

23  and the light of a lamp

will shine in you no more,

and ithe voice of bridegroom and bride

will be heard in you no more,

for jyour merchants were the great ones of the earth,

and all nations were deceived kby your sorcery.

24  And lin her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,

and of mall who have been slain on earth.”

Rejoicing in Heaven

19 After this I heard nwhat seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

oSalvation and glory and power belong to our God,

2  for phis judgments are true and just;

for he has judged qthe great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her immorality,

and rhas avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

3 Once more they cried out,

“Hallelujah!

sThe smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

4 And tthe twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,

u“Praise our God,

all you his servants,

vyou who fear him,

small and great.”

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

6 Then I heard what seemed to be wthe voice of a great multitude, like xthe roar of many waters and ylike the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty zreigns.

7  Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for athe marriage of the Lamb has come,

and bhis Bride has made herself ready…