A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Revelation 21
Revelation 21 is the twenty-first chapter of the final book of the Bible. The 27-verse chapter describes one of the most quoted visions in scripture: the new heaven and the new earth, and the new Jerusalem descending from God.
The chapter opens with John seeing a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and there is no longer any sea. He sees the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
A loud voice from the throne declares the famous words: "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away."
The one seated on the throne says: "Behold, I make all things new." He adds: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life."
The chapter then describes the new Jerusalem in elaborate detail. An angel measures it with a golden rod. The city is laid out as a square, twelve thousand stadia long and wide and high. The wall is built of jasper, and the city is pure gold, as clear as glass. The foundations are decorated with twelve kinds of precious stones, listed by name. The twelve gates are twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl. The great street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.
The chapter closes with what is missing. There is no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. There is no sun or moon, because the glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is its lamp. Nothing impure will ever enter it, only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Verse 1. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Verse 2. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Verse 3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.
Verse 4. ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Verse 5. And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.”
Verse 6. And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.
Verse 7. The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.
Verse 8. But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
Verse 9. Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
Verse 10. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
Verse 11. shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal.
Verse 12. The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.
Verse 13. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.
Verse 14. The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Verse 15. The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls.
Verse 16. The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height.
Verse 17. And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits, by the human measure the angel was using.
Verse 18. The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass.
Verse 19. The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
Verse 20. the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
Verse 21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.
Verse 22. But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Verse 23. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
Verse 24. By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.
Verse 25. Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there.
Verse 26. And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations.
Verse 27. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
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