A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[Isaiah 65:17] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[Isaiah 25:8] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And 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. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia [That is, about 1,400 miles or about 2,200 kilometers ] in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits[That is, about 200 feet or about 65 meters ] thick. [Or high] 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.[The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain.] 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
NOTES:
Footnotes
21:1–22:5 A description of God’s eternal kingdom in heaven
under the symbols of a new heaven and a new earth; cf. Is 65:17–25; 66:22; Mt
19:28.
21:1 Sea…no more: because as home of the dragon it was
doomed to disappear; cf. Jb 7:12.
21:2 New Jerusalem…bride: symbol of the church (Gal 4:26);
see note on Rev 19:7.
21:3–4 Language taken from Ez 37:27; Is 25:8; 35:10; cf. Rev
7:17.
21:3 People: other ancient manuscripts read a plural,
“peoples.”
21:5 The one…on the throne: God himself; cf. Rev 4:1–11.
21:6 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.
21:7 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.
21:8 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.
21:9–22:5 Symbolic descriptions of the new Jerusalem, the
church. Most of the images are borrowed from Ez 40–48.
21:9 The bride, the wife of the Lamb: the church (Rev 21:2),
the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:10); cf. 2 Cor 11:2.
21:14 Courses of stones…apostles: literally, “twelve
foundations”; cf. Eph 2:19–20.
21:15–17 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.
21:16 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.”
21:17 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.”
21:18–21 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.
21:22 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.
21:23 Lamp…Lamb: cf. Jn 8:12.
21:24–27 All men and women of goodwill are welcome in the
church; cf. Is 60:1, 3, 5, 11. The…book of life: see note on Rev 3:5.
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