Revelation 19–22

Rejoicing in Heaven

19After these things I heard something like the loud sound of a great crowd in heaven saying,

“Hallelujah!

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

²because his judgments are true and righteous,

because he has passed judgment on the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his slaves shed by^a her hand!”

³And a second time they said,

“Hallelujah!”

And her smoke goes up forever and ever^b. ⁴And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying,

“Amen! Hallelujah!”

⁵And a voice came out from the throne, saying,

“Praise our God

all his slaves,

and those who fear him,

the small and the great!”

The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb

⁶And I heard something like the sound of a great crowd and something like the sound of many waters and something like the sound of powerful thunder, saying,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord God,^c the All-Powerful, reigns!

⁷Let us rejoice and be glad

and give him the glory,

because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has prepared herself.

⁸And it has been granted to her that she be dressed in bright, clean fine linen (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints).

⁹And he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet of the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰And I fell down before his feet to worship him, and he said to me, “Do not do that!^d I am a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Warrior on the White Horse

¹¹And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice^e he judges and makes war. ¹²Now his eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many royal headbands having a name written that no one except he himself knows. ¹³And he was dressed in an outer garment dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies that are in heaven, dressed in clean, white fine linen, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵And out of his mouth came a sharp sword, so that with it he could strike the nations. And he will shepherd them with an iron rod,^f and he stomps the winepress of the wine of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. ¹⁶And he has a name written on his outer garment and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

¹⁷And I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly directly overhead^g,

“Come! Assemble for the great banquet of God,

¹⁸in order that you may eat the flesh of kings,

and the flesh of military tribunes,

and the flesh of the powerful,

and the flesh of horses and those seated on them,

and the flesh of all people,

both free and slave,

and small and great!”

¹⁹And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with the one who is seated on the horse and with his army. ²⁰And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs before him, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. ²¹And the rest were killed by the sword of the one who is seated on the horse—the sword that comes out of his mouth—and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Satan Bound for a Thousand Years

20And I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. ²And he seized the dragon—the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan—and bound him for a thousand years, ³and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it above him, in order that he could not deceive the nations again until the thousand years are completed. After these things it is necessary for him to be released for a short time.

⁴And I saw thrones, and they sat down on them, and authority to judge was granted to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and did not receive the mark on their^* forehead and on their hand, and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over this person the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand^a years.

Satan’s Release and Defeat

⁷And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸and he will go out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to assemble them for battle, whose number^b is like the sand of the sea. ⁹And they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the fortified camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and consumed them. ¹⁰And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet also are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever^c.

The Judgment at the Great White Throne

¹¹And I saw a great white throne and the one who was seated on it, from whose presence^d earth and heaven fled, and a place was not found for them. ¹²And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. ¹³And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and each one was judged according to their deeds. ¹⁴And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. ¹⁵And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The New Heaven, New Earth, and New Jerusalem

21And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea did not exist any longer. ²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“Behold, the dwelling of God is with humanity,

and he will take up residence with them,

and they will be his people

and God himself will be with them.^a

⁴And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes,

and death will not exist any longer,

and^b mourning or wailing or pain will not exist any longer.

The former things^c have passed away.”

⁵And the one seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new!” And he said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” ⁶And he said to me, “It is done! I am^d the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who is thirsty I will give water from the spring of the water of life freely.^{e 7}The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God^f and he will be my son^g. ⁸But as for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share is in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.

A Description of the New Jerusalem

⁹And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹that has the glory of God. Its radiance is like a precious stone, something like a jasper stone, shining like crystal. ¹²It has^h a great and high wall that has twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on the gates which areⁱ of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel—¹³on the east, three gates, and on the north, three gates, and on the south, three gates, and on the west, three gates. ¹⁴And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵And the one who spoke with me was holding a golden measuring rod in order that he could measure the city and its gates and its wall. ¹⁶And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is the same as its width. And he measured the city with the measuring rod at twelve thousand stadia;^j the length and the width and the height of it are equal. ¹⁷And he measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits^k according to human measure^l, which is the angel’s. ¹⁸And the material of its wall is jasper, and the city is pure gold, similar in appearance to pure glass. ¹⁹The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every kind of precious stone: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, ²⁰the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each one of the gates was from a single pearl. And the street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.

²²And I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God All-Powerful is its temple, and the Lamb. ²³And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon, that they shine on it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴And the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵And its gates will never be shut by day (for there will be no night there), ²⁶and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations…