1THEN I SAW a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had vanished, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 [ Lv.26.11-12, 2Chr.6.18, Eze.37.27. ] I heard a loud voice proclaiming from the throne: 'Now at last God has his dwelling among men! He will dwell among them and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them. 4 [ Is.25.8. ] He will wipe every tear from their eyes; there shall be an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain; for the old order has passed away!'
5Then he who sat on the throne said, 'Behold! I am making all things new!' (And he said to me, 'Write this down; for these words are trustworthy and true. 6Indeed', he said, 'they are already fulfilled.') 'For I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. A draught from the water-springs of life will be my free gift to the thirsty. 7 [ 2Sm.7.14. ] All this is the victor's heritage; and I will be his God and he shall be my son. 8But as for the cowardly, the faithless, and the vile, murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars of every kind, their lot will be the second death, in the lake that burns with sulphurous flames.'
9Then one of the seven angels that held the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke to me and said, 'Come, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.' 10So in the Spirit he carried me away to a great high mountain, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 11It shone with the glory of God; it had the radiance of some priceless jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 [ Ex.28.21, Eze.48.30. ] It had a great high wall, with twelve gates, at which were twelve angels; and on the gates were inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13There were three gates to the east, three to the north, three to the south, and three to the west. 14The city wall had twelve foundation-stones, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15The angel who spoke with me carried a gold measuring-rod, to measure the city, its wall, and its gates. 16The city was built as a square, and was as wide as it was long. It measured by his rod twelve thousand furlongs, its length and breadth and height being equal. 17Its wall was one hundred and forty-four cubits high, that is, by human measurements, which the angel was using. 18The wall was built of jasper, while the city itself was of pure gold, bright as clear glass. 19The foundations of the city wall were adorned with jewels of every kind, the first of the foundation-stones being jasper, the second lapis lazuli, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth cornelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh turquoise, and the twelfth amethyst. 21The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate being made from a single pearl. The streets of the city were of pure gold, like translucent glass.
22I saw no temple in the city; for its temple was the sovereign Lord God and the Lamb. 23And the city had no need of sun or moon to shine upon it; for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb 24By its light shall the nations walk, and the kings of the earth shall bring into it all their splendour. 25The gates of the city shall never be shut by day-and there will be no night. 26The wealth and splendour of the nations shall be brought into it; 27but nothing unclean shall enter, nor anyone whose ways are false or foul, but only those who are inscribed in the Lamb's roll of the living.
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