15 He who spoke with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. 16 The city is square. Its length is as great as its width. He measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand and twelve stadia.§ Its length, width, and height are equal. 17 Its wall is one hundred and forty-four cubits,† by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass. 19 The foundations of the city’s wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire;‡ the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 25 Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there), 26 and they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it so that they may enter. 27 There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
22
1 He showed me a† river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
6 He said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon.”
7 “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things. 9 He said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” 10 He said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still.”
12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. 14 Blessed are those who do his commandments,‡ that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. 19 If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree§ of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. 20 He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen.
† 1:1: “Christ” means “Anointed One”.
‡ 1:1: or, messenger (here and wherever angel is mentioned)
- 1:6: Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6
§ 1:7: “Behold”, from “ἰδοὺ”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
† 1:8: TR adds “the Beginning and the End”
‡ 1:8: TR omits “God”
§ 1:11: TR adds “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.”
† 1:11: TR adds “which are in Asia”
- 1:13: Daniel 7:13
‡ 1:18: or, Hell
§ 1:20: or, messengers (here and wherever angels are mentioned)
† 2:3: TR adds “have laboured and”
‡ 2:15: TR reads “which I hate” instead of “likewise”
§ 2:17: Manna is supernatural food, named after the Hebrew for “What is it?”. See Exodus 11:7-9.
† 2:20: TR, NU read “that” instead of “your”
- 2:27: Psalms 2:9
† 3:2: NU & TR read “which were about to die” instead of “which you were about to throw away”.
‡ 3:14: or, Source, or Head
† 4:8: Hodges/Farstad MT reads “holy” 9 times instead of 3.
‡ 4:11: TR omits “and God, the Holy One,”
† 5:13: TR omits “Amen!”
‡ 5:14: TR adds “twenty-four”
§ 5:14: TR adds “the one living forever and ever”
† 6:6: A choenix is a dry volume measure that is a little more than a litre (a little more than a quart).
‡ 6:8: or, Hell
§ 6:11: The word for “brothers” here and where context allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
† 7:14: or, oppression
† 8:7: TR omits “One third of the earth was burnt up”
‡ 8:13: TR reads “angel” instead of “eagle”
† 9:2: TR adds “great”
‡ 9:11: “Abaddon” is a Hebrew word that means “ruin”, “destruction”, or “the place of destruction”
§ 9:11: “Apollyon” means “Destroyer”.
† 9:16: literally, “ten thousands of ten thousands”
‡ 9:21: The word for “sorceries” (pharmakeia) also implies the use of potions, poisons, and drugs
† 10:11: TR reads “He” instead of “They”
† 11:17: TR adds “and who is coming”
† 12:17: or, seed
† 13:1: NU reads he stood
‡ 13:10: TR reads “If anyone leads into captivity, into captivity he goes. If anyone will kill with the sword, he must be killed with a sword.” instead of “If anyone is to go into captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, he must be killed.”
§ 13:14: NU omits “my own”
† 14:5: TR adds “before the throne of God”
- 14:14: Daniel 7:13
‡ 14:20: 1600 stadia = 296 kilometres or 184 miles
† 15:2: TR adds “his mark,”
† 16:12: or, east
‡ 16:21: A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds.
† 17:8: TR reads “yet is” instead of “shall be present”
- 19:15: Psalms 2:9
† 19:17: TR reads “supper of the great God” instead of “great supper of God”
† 20:2: TR and NU omit “who deceives the whole inhabited earth”.
‡ 20:13: or, Hell
§ 20:14: or, Hell
† 21:8: TR and NU omit “sinners”
‡ 21:8: The word for “sorcerers” here also includes users of potions and drugs.
§ 21:16: 12,012 stadia = 2,221 kilometres or 1,380 miles. TR reads 12,000 stadia instead of 12,012 stadia.
† 21:17: 144 cubits is about 65.8 metres or 216 feet
‡ 21:19: or, lapis lazuli
† 22:1: TR adds “pure”
‡ 22:14: NU reads “wash their robes” instead of “do his commandments”.
§ 22:19: TR reads “Book” instead of “tree”
The End
Glossary
World English Bible Glossary
The following words used in the World English Bible British Edition (WEBBE) are not very common, either because they refer to ancient weights, measures, or money, or because they are in some way unique to the Bible.
Abaddon Abaddon is Hebrew for destruction.
Abba Abba is a Chaldee word for father, used in a respectful, affectionate, and familiar way, like papa, dad, or daddy. Often used in prayer to refer to our Father in Heaven.
adultery Adultery is having sexual intercourse with someone besides your own husband or wife. In the Bible, the only legitimate sexual intercourse is between a man and a woman who are married to each other.
alpha Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. It is sometimes used to mean the beginning or the first.
amen Amen means “So be it” or “I believe it is certainly so.”
angel “Angel” literally means “messenger” or “envoy,” and is usually used to refer to spiritual beings who normally are invisible to us, but
