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.
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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.
Revelation 21
21
The New Heaven and the New Earth. 1#Is 65:17; 66:22; Rom 8:19–23; 2 Pt 3:13. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.#Sea…no more: because as home of the dragon it was doomed to disappear; cf. Jb 7:12. 2I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,#New Jerusalem…bride: symbol of the church (Gal 4:26); see note on Rev 19:7. coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.#19:7–9. 3I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race.#Ez 37:27. He will dwell with them and they will be his people#Language taken from Ez 37:27; Is 25:8; 35:10; cf. Rev 7:17. and God himself will always be with them [as their God].#People: other ancient manuscripts read a plural, “peoples.” 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, [for] the old order has passed away.”#7:17; Is 25:8; 35:10.
5The one who sat on the throne#The one…on the throne: God himself; cf. Rev 4:1–11. said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then he said, “Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true.”#Is 43:19; 2 Cor 5:17. 6He said to me, “They are accomplished.#They are accomplished: God’s reign has already begun; see note on Rev 20:1–6. Alpha…Omega: see note on Rev 1:8. Life-giving water: see note on Rev 7:17. I [am] the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give a gift from the spring of life-giving water.#22:17; Ps 36:8–9; Is 55:1. 7The victor#The victor: over the forces of evil; see the conclusions of the seven letters (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). He will be my son: the victorious Christian enjoys divine affiliation by adoption (Gal 4:4–7; Rom 8:14–17); see note on Rev 2:26–28. will inherit these gifts, and I shall be his God, and he will be my son.#2 Sm 7:14. 8But as for cowards,#Cowards: their conviction is so weak that they deny Christ in time of trial and become traitors. Second death: see note on Rev 2:11. the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”#22:15; Rom 1:29–32.
The New Jerusalem.#21:9–22:5] Symbolic descriptions of the new Jerusalem, the church. Most of the images are borrowed from Ez 40–48. 9One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”#The bride, the wife of the Lamb: the church (Rev 21:2), the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:10); cf. 2 Cor 11:2. 10He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.#Ez 40:2. 11It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal.#Heb 11:10. 12It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, [the names] of the twelve tribes of the Israelites. 13There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west.#Ez 48:31–35. 14The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles#Courses of stones…apostles: literally, “twelve foundations”; cf. Eph 2:19–20. of the Lamb.#Eph 2:20.
15#The city is shaped like a gigantic cube, a symbol of perfection (cf. 1 Kgs 6:19–20). The measurements of the city and its wall are multiples of the symbolic number twelve; see note on Rev 7:4–9. The one who spoke to me held a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16The city was square, its length the same as [also] its width. He measured the city with the rod and found it fifteen hundred miles#Fifteen hundred miles: literally, twelve thousand stades, about 12,000 furlongs (see note on Rev 14:20); the number is symbolic: twelve (the apostles as leaders of the new Israel) multiplied by 1,000 (the immensity of Christians); cf. Introduction. In length and width and height: literally, “its length and width and height are the same.” in length and width and height. 17He also measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits#One hundred and forty-four cubits: the cubit was about eighteen inches in length. Standard unit of measurement the angel used: literally, “by a human measure, i.e., an angel’s.” according to the standard unit of measurement the angel used. 18#The gold and precious gems symbolize the beauty and excellence of the church; cf. Ex 28:15–21; Tb 13:16–17; Is 54:11–12. The wall was constructed of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. 19The foundations of the city wall were decorated with every precious stone; the first course of stones was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,#Is 54:11–12. 20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh hyacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made from a single pearl; and the street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass.
22#Christ is present throughout the church; hence, no temple is needed as an earthly dwelling for God; cf. Mt 18:20; 28:20; Jn 4:21. #Jn 2:19–20. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb. 23#Lamp…Lamb: cf. Jn 8:12. The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it,#Is 60:1–2, 19–20. for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb. 24The nations will walk by its light,#All men and women of good will are welcome in the church; cf. Is 60:1, 3, 5, 11. The…book of life: see note on Rev 3:5. and to it the kings of the earth will bring their treasure.#Is 60:11. 25During the day its gates will never be shut, and there will be no night there. 26The treasure and wealth of the nations will be brought there, 27but nothing unclean will enter it, nor any[one] who does abominable things or tells lies. Only those will enter whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.#Is 35:8; 52:1; Zec 13:2 / Rev 3:5; 20:12.
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