Then I saw a
new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared,
and the sea vanished.
And I saw the
Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and
ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband.
I heard a
loud voice speaking from the throne: "Now God's home is with people! He
will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with
them, and he will be their God.
He will wipe
away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or
crying or pain. The old things have disappeared."
Then the one
who sits on the throne said, "And now I make all things new!" He also
said to me, "Write this, because these words are true and can be
trusted."
And he said,
"It is done! I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. To
anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the
water of life without paying for it.
Those who win
the victory will receive this from me: I will be their God, and they will be my
children.
But cowards,
traitors, perverts, murderers, the immoral, those who practice magic, those who
worship idols, and all liars---the place for them is the lake burning with fire
and sulfur, which is the second death."
One of the
seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me
and said, "Come, and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."
The Spirit
took control of me, and the angel carried me to the top of a very high
mountain. He showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City, coming down out of heaven from
God and shining
with the glory of God. The city shone like a precious stone, like a jasper,
clear as crystal.
It had a
great, high wall with twelve gates and with twelve angels in charge of the
gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of the people
of Israel.
There were
three gates on each side: three on the east, three on the south, three on the
north, and three on the west.
The city's
wall was built on twelve foundation stones, on which were written the names of
the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The angel who
spoke to me had a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its
wall.
The city was
perfectly square, as wide as it was long. The angel measured the city with his
measuring stick: it was fifteen hundred miles long and was as wide and as high
as it was long.
The angel
also measured the wall, and it was 216 feet high, according to the standard
unit of measure which he was using.
The wall was
made of jasper, and the city itself was made of pure gold, as clear as glass.
The
foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones.
The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate,
the fourth emerald,
the fifth
onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh yellow quartz, the eighth beryl, the
ninth topaz, the tenth chalcedony, the eleventh turquoise, the twelfth
amethyst.
The twelve
gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of
the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass.
I did not see
a temple in the city, because its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.
The city has
no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God shines
on it, and the Lamb is its lamp.
The peoples
of the world will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring
their wealth into it.
The gates of
the city will stand open all day; they will never be closed, because there will
be no night there.
The greatness
and the wealth of the nations will be brought into the city.
But nothing
that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or
tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of the living
will enter the city.
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