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Revelation 21

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1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.

2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

3And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and betheir God:

4and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away.

5And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.

6And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.

9And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb.

10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

11having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal:

12having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13on the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal.

17And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

18And the building of the wall thereof was jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass.

19The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;

20the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.

21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof.

23And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb.

24And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it.

25And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there shall be no night there):

26and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it:

27and there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie: but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

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Parallel translations · Revelation 21:1

WEB · World English Bible (2000)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.

KJV · King James Version (1611)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

ASV · American Standard Version (1901)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more.

BBE · Bible in Basic English (1949)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were gone; and there was no more sea.

YLT · Young's Literal Translation (1862)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth did pass away, and the sea is not any more;

DRA · Douay-Rheims (Challoner) (1752)

I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone: and the sea is now no more.

DBY · Darby Bible (1890)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea exists no more.

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Commentary · Revelation 21

A New Heaven and a New Earth

John's final vision. The first heaven and earth pass away, and the New Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. God himself dwells with his people; he wipes away every tear; there is no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain. The former things are passed away. The light of the city is the glory of God; its lamp is the Lamb. The story that began in the garden of Genesis ends in the city of Revelation, and the gates are never shut.

Themes

  • New creation
  • God dwelling with man
  • End of death and sorrow
  • Eternal worship

Application

The Christian hope is not escape from the world but the renewal of all things. The end of the story is better than the beginning.

Key cross-references

From the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — verses that illuminate Revelation 21:1.

  • 2 Peter 3:10

    But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

  • Revelation 21:5

    And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true.

  • Isaiah 65:17

    For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

  • 2 Peter 3:13

    But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

  • Revelation 20:11

    And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

  • Isaiah 66:22

    For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain.

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Revelation 22

"And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,"