Revelation 21
21
The New Creation
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth;#Is 65:17; 66:22; 2Pt 3:13 for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,#Lk 21:33; 1Co 7:31; 2Pt 3:10 and the sea was no more.#Is 57:20; Rv 13:1,6–7 2I also saw the holy city,#Neh 11:1; Is 48:2; 52:1; Dn 9:24; Mt 4:5; 27:53; Rv 11:2; 22:19 the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,#Gl 4:26; Php 3:20; Heb 11:10; 12:22; 13:14; Rv 3:12 prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.#Is 61:10; Rv 19:7
3Then I heard a loud voice#Dt 5:22; Ezk 9:1; Mt 27:46,50; Jn 11:43; Rv 1:10; 11:12; 16:1 from the throne:#21:3 Other mss read from heaven#Mt 19:28 Look, God’s dwelling#21:3 Or tent, or tabernacle is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples,#21:3 Other mss read people#Lv 26:11–12; Jr 7:23; 30:22; 31:33; Ezk 37:27; Hs 2:23; Zch 8:8 and God himself will be with them and will be their God.#21:3 Other mss omit and will be their God 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.#Is 25:8; 30:19; 35:10; 51:11; 65:19; Rv 7:16–17 Death will be no more;#Hs 13:14; 1Co 15:54 grief, crying, and pain will be no more,#Is 60:20 because the previous things#21:4 Or the first things have passed away.#Is 42:9; 2Co 5:17
5Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words#21:5 Other mss add of God are faithful and true.”#Rv 3:14; 19:11; 22:6 6Then he said to me, “It is done!#Rv 16:17 I am the Alpha and the Omega,#Rv 1:8; 22:13 the beginning and the end.#Is 44:6; 48:12 I will freely give to the thirsty#Ps 42:1–2; Is 41:17; 44:3; 55:1; Jn 4:14; 7:37 from the spring of the water of life.#Ps 36:9; Jr 2:13; Jn 4:14 7The one who conquers#Rv 2:7 will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.#2Sm 7:14 8But the cowards, faithless,#21:8 Other mss add the sinful, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars#Rm 1:28–32; 1Co 6:9–10; Rv 22:15 — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur,#Rv 19:20 which is the second death.”#Rv 20:6
The New Jerusalem
9Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues,#Rv 16:1 came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10He then carried me away in the Spirit#21:10 Or in spirit#Rv 1:10; 4:2; 17:3 to a great, high mountain#Ezk 40:2 and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11arrayed with God’s glory.#Is 60:1–2 Her radiance was like a precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates. 13There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.#Ezk 48:30–34 14The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.
15The one who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod#Rv 11:1 to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.#Ezk 40:3 16The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia.#21:16 A stadion (sg) = about 600 feet; 12,000 stadia = 1,400 miles. Its length, width, and height are equal. 17Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used. 18The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold clear as glass. 19The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of jewel:#Ex 28:15–21; Is 54:11 the first foundation is 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. 21The twelve gates are twelve pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The main street#21:21 Or The public square of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
22I did not see a temple in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.#Is 24:23; 30:26; 60:19–20; Zch 14:6–7; Rv 22:5 24The nations will walk by its light,#Is 42:6; 49:6; 60:3,5 and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.#21:24 Other mss read will bring to him the nations’ glory and honor#Is 49:7,23; 60:10 25Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there.#Neh 7:3 26They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.#21:26 Other mss add in order that they might go in#Is 60:11 27Nothing unclean will ever enter it,#Is 35:8; 52:1 nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.#Rv 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12,15
Currently Selected:
Revelation 21: CSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Revelation 21
21
Everything New
1I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea.
2I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband.
3-5I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.”
6-8Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them, they’ll be sons and daughters to me. But for the rest—the feckless and faithless, degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—for them it’s Lake Fire and Brimstone. Second death!”
The City of Light
9-12a One of the Seven Angels who had carried the bowls filled with the seven final disasters spoke to me: “Come here. I’ll show you the Bride, the Wife of the Lamb.” He took me away in the Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God, resplendent in the bright glory of God.
12b-14 The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them.
15-21a The Angel speaking with me had a gold measuring stick to measure the City, its gates, and its wall. The City was laid out in a perfect square. He measured the City with the measuring stick: fifteen hundred miles, its length, width, and height all equal. Using the standard measure, the Angel measured the thickness of its wall: seventy-two yards. The wall was jasper, the color of Glory, and the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. The foundations of the City walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl.
21b-27 The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn’t need sun or moon for light. God’s Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth’s kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won’t be any night. They’ll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in.
* * *
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.