Revelation 21

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth were gone, and the sea was gone too.

1And 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.

NoteIn the imagery of this book, and of the Hebrew scriptures behind it, the sea is not scenery but a standing image of chaos and danger: it is where the beast comes up from in chapter 13, and it is what separates John on Patmos from the churches he writes to. An ancient reader would hear "no more sea" as the removal of that threat.

2And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. It was made ready like a bride dressed up for her husband.

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

NoteHebrew prophets routinely spoke of a city as a woman: Jerusalem as widow, wife, or bride (Isaiah 54, Isaiah 62:5). The picture of a city dressed as a bride was a familiar figure of speech, not an odd one.

3And I heard a loud voice from heaven say, "Look! God's home is with people. He will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.

3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Note"Tabernacle" translates a Greek word that simply means a tent. It was the standard term for the portable tent shrine Israel carried through the desert before the temple was built. The verb translated "dwell" is built on the same root, so the line reads roughly: God's tent is with people, and he will pitch it among them.

4God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more sadness, no more crying, and no more pain, because the way things used to be is gone."

4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

NoteThe word the King James renders "sorrow" is narrower than modern sadness; it means mourning, the public grief that follows a death.

5And the one sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new." Then he said to me, "Write this down, because these words are true and can be trusted."

5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6And he said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To anyone who is thirsty I will give a drink from the spring of the water of life, free of charge.

6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

NoteAlpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so the phrase works like saying "A to Z." The next clause spells it out: the beginning and the end. "Freely" in 1611 English means without payment, at no price, echoing the offer in Isaiah 55:1 to come and buy without money.

7The one who wins the fight will receive all of this, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

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

Note"Overcometh" translates a Greek verb meaning to win a victory, used of winning a battle or a contest. It is the same word that closes each of the seven letters to the churches in chapters 2 and 3.

8But the cowardly, and those who do not believe, and the disgusting, and murderers, and those who are sexually immoral, and those who practice magic, and those who worship idols, and everyone who lies, will have their place in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That is the second death."

8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Note"The fearful" does not mean people who feel afraid; in 1611 it meant the cowardly, those who desert under pressure. "Abominable" carries the sense of polluted or defiled, originally a word from the world of ritual purity. "Whoremongers" covers sexual immorality generally. "Brimstone" is the old English word for sulfur, which burns with a choking smell and was the standard image for destructive fire. "The second death" was defined in the previous chapter (20:14) as the lake of fire itself, as distinct from ordinary bodily death.

9Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said, "Come here. I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."

9And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

Note"Vials" is misleading to a modern ear. The Greek word means a broad, shallow bowl, the kind used in temple ritual to pour a liquid out all at once, not a narrow bottle.

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

10And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Note"In the spirit" is a fixed phrase in this book (also at 1:10, 4:2 and 17:3) marking the visionary state in which John is carried somewhere else to see something. A high mountain is the standard vantage point for seeing a city in such visions, as in Ezekiel 40:2.

11The city had the glory of God. Its brightness was like a very costly jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

11Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

NoteAncient stone names did not match modern mineral categories. Stones were classified by color and hardness, so one ancient name could cover several minerals. "Jasper" here is described as clear as crystal, which does not fit the opaque stone now called jasper; the word seems to point to some translucent, highly valued stone.

12It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates. Names were written on the gates, the names of the twelve tribes of the people of Israel.

12And had a wall great and high, and had 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:

NoteThe twelve tribes were the traditional divisions of Israel, each tracing descent from one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Naming gates after them follows the plan of the restored city in Ezekiel 48:30 to 34.

13There were three gates on the east side, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.

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

14The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the names of the Lamb's twelve apostles.

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

NoteThe foundations of an ancient city wall were the large squared blocks laid at its base, visible above ground. In the Greek and Roman world such blocks sometimes carried inscriptions naming the city's founders.

15The angel who was talking with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

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

NoteThe measuring rod is a reed, a cane stalk cut to a standard length. It was an ordinary surveyor's tool; the guide in Ezekiel's temple vision carries the same thing (Ezekiel 40:3).

16The city is laid out as a square, as long as it is wide. He measured the city with the rod, and it was twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, width, and height were all the same.

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

Note"Foursquare" means square in plan, and since the height matches, the city is a cube. The inner sanctuary of Solomon's temple was also a cube (1 Kings 6:20). "Furlong" is the King James translators' English equivalent for the Greek stadion, about 607 feet or 185 meters. Twelve thousand of them is roughly 1,380 miles, about 2,200 kilometers. The figure is twelve times a thousand.

17He measured its wall, and it was one hundred forty-four cubits, using a human measure, which is the one the angel was using.

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

NoteA cubit was about eighteen inches, roughly the length of a forearm, so 144 cubits is about 216 feet or 66 meters. The text does not say whether this is the wall's height or its thickness. The closing phrase, "according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel," means the units are ordinary human ones even though an angel is doing the measuring; the Greek is compressed and has been read in more than one way. The number itself is twelve times twelve.

18The wall was built of jasper, and the city itself was pure gold, as clear as glass.

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

19The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

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

NoteThe list that follows is one of gemstones, and ancient names do not line up with modern mineralogy. Twelve precious stones also studded the breastplate of Israel's high priest (Exodus 28:17 to 20), though the two lists do not match item for item.

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

20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

NoteSeveral of these names are descriptive in Greek. Sardius, or carnelian, is a red stone named for the city of Sardis. Chrysolite means "gold stone" and chrysoprase means "gold leek-green," both named for their color. Jacinth was a blue or violet stone. As with jasper, the ancient names identify color and quality more than a specific mineral.

21The twelve gates were twelve pearls, and each single gate was made from one pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, clear as glass.

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

Note"Several" in 1611 English meant separate or individual, so the verse says each gate was made from a single pearl. These are the gates of a city wall, so the pearls are being imagined at a scale no real pearl could reach.

22I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

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

NoteThe temple in Jerusalem was the one place where sacrifice could be offered and where God was understood to be present in a particular way. A city with no temple in it would have struck a first-century reader as a city with its center missing, which is why the verse immediately explains what has replaced it.

23The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

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

24The nations of those who are saved will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.

24And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Note"Of them which are saved" comes from the late Greek manuscripts the King James translators worked from; the earliest surviving copies read simply "the nations shall walk by its light." "Glory and honour" here is the language of tribute, the goods and treasure that subject peoples carried to a capital city, as in Isaiah 60.

25Its gates will never be shut during the day, and there will be no night there.

25And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

NoteAncient cities shut their gates at nightfall against raiders and opened them at dawn. Gates that are never shut is the picture of a city under no threat at all.

26And people will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

26And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27Nothing unclean will ever enter it, and no one who does what is disgusting or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life will enter.

27And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Note"In no wise" simply means in no way, by no means. "Defileth" belongs to the vocabulary of ritual purity: what is unclean cannot enter a holy place. A "book of life" was pictured on the model of a civic register, the list of a city's enrolled citizens by name.