God's New Bible

The Revelation of St. John the Divine

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- Chapter 21 -

(Isaiah 65:17–25)
1
I saw the new heaven and the new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea is no more.(a)
2
And I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
3
And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: “Behold the tabernacle of God with men. And he will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be their God with them.
4
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And death shall be no more. And neither mourning, nor crying out, nor grief shall be anymore. For the first things have passed away.”
5
And the One who was sitting upon the throne, said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And he said to me, “Write, for these words are entirely faithful and true.”
6
And he said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To those who thirst, I will give freely from the fountain of the water of life.
7
Whoever prevails shall possess these things. And I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8
But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and drug users, and idolaters, and all liars, these shall be a part of the pool burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”

The New Jerusalem

9
And one of the seven Angels, those holding the bowls filled with the seven last afflictions, approached and spoke with me, saying: “Come, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
10
And he took me up in spirit to a great and high mountain. And he showed me the Holy City Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11
having the glory of God. And its light was like that of a precious stone, even like that of the jasper stone or like crystal.
12
And it had a wall, great and high, having twelve gates. And at the gates were twelve Angels. And names were written upon them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
13
On the East were three gates, and on the North were three gates, and on the South were three gates, and on the West were three gates.
14
And the wall of the City had twelve foundations. And upon them were the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
15
And he who was speaking with me was holding a golden measuring reed, in order to measure the City, and its gates and wall.
16
And the city is laid out as a square, and so its length is as great as the width. And he measured the city with the golden reed for twelve thousand stadia, and its length and height and breadth were equal.(b)
17
And he measured its wall as one hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is of an Angel.(c)
18
And the structure of its wall was of jasper stone. Yet truly, the city itself was of pure gold, similar to pure glass.
19
And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was of jasper, the second was of sapphire, the third was of chalcedony, the fourth was of emerald,
20
the fifth was of sardonyx, the sixth was of sardius, the seventh was of chrysolite, the eighth was of beryl, the ninth was of topaz, the tenth was of chrysoprasus, the eleventh was of jacinth, the twelfth was of amethyst.
21
And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, one for each, so that each gate was made from a single pearl. And the main street of the city was of pure gold, similar to transparent glass.
22
And I saw no temple in it. For the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb.
23
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine in it. For the glory of God has illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp.
24
And the nations shall walk by its light. And the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it.
25
And its gates shall not be closed throughout the day, for there shall be no night in that place.
26
And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
27
There shall not enter into it anything defiled, nor anything causing an abomination, nor anything false, but only those who have been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb.

Footnotes

(a)21:1 The first heaven and the first earth was gone:being changed, not as to their substance, but in their qualities.(Challoner)
(b)21:16 There is some uncertainty about whether the city was 12 by 12 by 12, or 3 by 3 by 3. In my opinion, the 12 thousand stadia is related to the 12 sections of the wall, so the perimeter is 12 thousand stadia; this interpretation makes the latter part of the verse much more significant, in that it is needed to indicate that the length and height are equal (so 3 thousand stadia each), and that the height is therefore also 3 thousand stadia.(Conte)
(c)21:17 The measure of a man, i.e., According to the measure of men, and used by the angel:This seems to be the true meaning of these words.(Challoner)
(Isaiah 65:17–25)
1
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
2
I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
3
I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”
5
He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”
6
He said to me, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
7
He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.
8
But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, (a) abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, (b) idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The New Jerusalem

9
One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls which were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”
10
He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11
having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12
having a great and high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
13
On the east were three gates, and on the north three gates, and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
14
The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
15
He who spoke with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, its gates, and its walls.
16
The city is square. Its length is as great as its width. He measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand twelve stadia.(c) Its length, width, and height are equal.
17
Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits,(d) by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
18
The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.
19
The foundations of the city’s wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire;(e) the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
20
the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
21
The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23
The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it and its lamp is the Lamb.
24
The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
25
Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there),
26
and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter.
27
There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Footnotes

(a)21:8 TR and NU omit “sinners”
(b)21:8 The word for “sorcerers” here also includes users of potions and drugs.
(c)21:16 12,012 stadia = 2,221 kilometers or 1,380 miles. TR reads 12,000 stadia instead of 12,012 stadia.
(d)21:17 144 cubits is about 65.8 meters or 216 feet
(e)21:19 or, lapis lazuli
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