Revelation · Chapter 21
Revelation 21
Berean Standard Bible · Public domain · Source credits
A New Heaven and a New Earth
(Isaiah 65:17–25)
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.*
2I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying:“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man,and He will dwell with them.They will be His people,and God Himself will be with them as their God.*
4‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’and there will be no more deathor mourning or crying or pain,for the former things have passed away.”*
5And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.”
6And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.
7The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.
8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
The New Jerusalem
9Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you 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 of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
11shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal.
12The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.
13There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.
14The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls.
16The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height.*
17And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits, by the human measure the angel was using.*
18The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass.
19The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
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.
21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.
22But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
24By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.*
25Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there.
26And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations.
27But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Source notes
- 21:1 See Isaiah 65:17 and Isaiah 66:22 (see also LXX). Read Isaiah 65:17 Read Isaiah 66:22
- 21:3 SBL, NE, WH, and BYZ God Himself will be with them.
- 21:4 Isaiah 25:8. Read Isaiah 25:8
- 21:16 12,000 stadia is approximately 1,380 miles or 2,220 kilometers.
- 21:17 144 cubits is approximately 216 feet or 65.8 meters. The measure could indicate either height or thickness.
- 21:24 BYZ and TR include and honor.
Old Testament references
References from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Text from the Berean Standard Bible.
Isaiah 65:17For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
Isaiah 66:22“For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “so your descendants and your name will endure.
Isaiah 25:8He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 65:18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.
Isaiah 65:19I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.
Isaiah 27:1In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent —Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
Isaiah 57:20But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.
Daniel 7:3Then four great beasts came up out of the sea, each one different from the others:
Psalms 48:1Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain.
Psalms 48:2Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.
Psalms 48:3God is in her citadels; He has shown Himself to be a fortress.
Psalms 87:3Glorious things are ascribed to you, O city of God. Selah
Isaiah 1:21See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!