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 ⁷The 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 into it. ²⁷And every unclean thing and one who practices^m detestable things and falsehood will never enter into it, except those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb.

Paradise Restored

22And he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming out from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²in the middle of its street, and on both sides of the river^a is the tree of life, producing twelve fruits—yielding its fruit according to every month—and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³And there will not be any curse any longer, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his slaves will serve^b him, ⁴and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵And night will not exist any longer, and they will not have need of the light of a lamp and the light^c of the sun, because the Lord God will give light to them, and they will reign forever and ever^d.

The Time of Fulfillment is Near

⁶And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true, and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his slaves the things which must take place in a short time.”

⁷“And behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸And I, John, am the one who heard and who saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed these things to me. ⁹And he said to me, “Do not do that!^e I am your fellow slave, and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” ¹⁰And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near! ¹¹The one who does evil, let him do evil still, and the defiled, let him be defiled still, and the righteous, let him practice righteousness still, and the holy, let him be holy still.”

¹²“Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to repay each one according to what his deeds are! ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

¹⁴Blessed are the ones who wash their robes, so that their authority will be over the tree of life and they may enter into the city through the gates. ¹⁵Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral people and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and who practices falsehood.

¹⁶“I, Jesus, sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

An Invitation to Respond

¹⁷And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And the one who hears, let him say, “Come!” And the one who is thirsty, let him come. The one who wants, let him take the water of life freely.^f

A Final Warning

¹⁸I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues written in this book. ¹⁹And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and from the holy city that are written in this book.

²⁰The one who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.^g

Read in Logos

Footnotes

aSome manuscripts have “with them as their God”
bLiterally “or”
cSome manuscripts have “any longer, because the former things”
dSome manuscripts explicitly state “am”
eOr “without charge”
fLiterally “to him God”
gLiterally “to me a son”
hLiterally “having,” referring back to the city mentioned in v. 11
iSome manuscripts have “which are the names”
jOr “two thousand two hundred kilometers”; or “fourteen hundred miles” (a stade was a unit of length about 185 meters or 607 feet)
kThis number in cubits amounts to 12 times 12; it would be about 65 meters (216 feet)
lLiterally “according to the measure of a man”
mSome manuscripts have “and the one who practices”
aLiterally “of the river from here and from there”
bOr “will worship”
cSome manuscripts have “of the light”
dLiterally “for the ages of the ages”
eLiterally “do not see to it”
fOr “without cost”
gMany manuscripts add “Amen”; some manuscripts add “the saints. Amen”