< Revelation 21 >
1 Then I saw new heavens and a new earth. The former heavens and the former earth had passed away; and the sea has ceased to be.
2 And I saw the Holy City, Jerusalem, descending new out of heaven from God, like a bride adorned in readiness for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, which said – ‘See! The tent of God is set up among people. God will live among them, and they will be his Peoples, and God himself will be among them,
4 and he will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, nor will there be any more grief or crying or pain. The old order has passed away.’
5 And he who was seated on the throne said – ‘See, I make all things new!’ And he said – ‘Write this, for these words may be trusted and are true.’
6 And he said to me – ‘They are fulfilled. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the End. To those who thirst I will give of the spring of the water of life, freely.
7 Those who conquer will enter into possession of these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.
8 But as for cowards, unbelievers, the degraded, murderers, the impure, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars – their place will be in the burning lake of fire and sulfur. That is the Second Death.’ (Limnē Pyr )
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, and were laden with the seven last curses, came and spoke to me. ‘Come here,’ he said, ‘and I will show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.’
10 He carried me away in a trance to a great high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City, descending out of heaven from God, filled with the glory of God.
11 Its brilliance was like a precious stone, like a jasper, transparent as crystal.
12 It had a great high wall, in which were twelve gates; and at these gates there were twelve angels, and there were names inscribed on the gates, the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites.
13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
14 The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, on which were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And the angel who was speaking to me had as a measure a gold rod, with which to measure the city and its gates and its wall.
16 The city is square; the length and the breadth are the same. The angel measured with his rod; it was twelve hundred miles; its length, and breadth, and height are equal.
17 Then he measured the wall; it was two hundred and eighty-eight feet, as people measure, that is as the angel measured.
18 The material of the wall of the city was jasper, and the city was built of pure gold, which shone like clear glass.
19 The foundations of the wall of the city were ornamented with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was a jasper; the second a sapphire; the third a chalcedony; the fourth an emerald;
20 the fifth a sardonyx; the sixth a carnelian; the seventh a chrysolite; the eighth a beryl; the ninth a topaz; the tenth a chrysoprase; the eleventh a hyacinth; and the twelfth an amethyst.
21 The twelve gates were made of twelve pearls, each gate of one pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass.
22 And I saw no Temple there, for the Lord, our God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are its Temple.
23 The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its Lamp was the Lamb.
24 The nations walk by the light of it; and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.
25 Its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there.
26 And people will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
27 Never will any unhallowed thing enter it, nor they whose life is shameful and false, but only those whose names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life.
