Revelation 1:4-22:21

Living Bible

⁴ From: John

To: The seven churches in Turkey.^[a]

Dear Friends:

May you have grace and peace from God who is, and was, and is to come; and from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; ⁵ and from Jesus Christ who faithfully reveals all truth to us. He was the first to rise from death, to die no more.^[b] He is far greater than any king in all the earth. All praise to him who always loves us and who set us free from our sins by pouring out his lifeblood for us. ⁶ He has gathered us into his Kingdom and made us priests of God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever! Amen!

⁷ See! He is arriving, surrounded by clouds; and every eye shall see him—yes, and those who pierced him.^[c] And the nations will weep in sorrow and in terror when he comes. Yes! Amen! Let it be so!

⁸ “I am the A and the Z,^[d] the Beginning and the Ending of all things,” says God, who is the Lord, the All Powerful One who is, and was, and is coming again!

⁹ It is I, your brother John, a fellow sufferer for the Lord’s sake, who am writing this letter to you. I, too, have shared the patience Jesus gives, and we shall share his Kingdom!

I was on the island of Patmos, exiled there for preaching the Word of God and for telling what I knew about Jesus Christ. ¹⁰ It was the Lord’s Day and I was worshiping, when suddenly I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast, ¹¹ saying, “I am A and Z, the First and Last!” And then I heard him say, “Write down everything you see, and send your letter to the seven churches in Turkey:^[e] to the church in Ephesus, the one in Smyrna, and those in Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹² When I turned to see who was speaking, there behind me were seven candlesticks of gold. ¹³ And standing among them was one who looked like Jesus, who called himself the Son of Man,^[f] wearing a long robe circled with a golden band across his chest. ¹⁴ His hair was white as wool or snow,^[g] and his eyes penetrated like flames of fire. ¹⁵ His feet gleamed like burnished bronze, and his voice thundered like the waves against the shore. ¹⁶ He held seven stars in his right hand and a sharp, double-bladed sword in his mouth,^[h] and his face shone like the power of the sun in unclouded brilliance.

^17-18 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead; but he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! Though I am the First and Last, the Living One who died, who is now alive forevermore, who has the keys of hell and death—don’t be afraid! ¹⁹ Write down what you have just seen and what will soon be shown to you. ²⁰ This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks: The seven stars are the leaders^[i] of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the churches themselves.

2 “Write a letter to the leader^[j] of the church at Ephesus and tell him this:

“I write to inform you of a message from him who walks among the churches and holds their leaders in his right hand.

“He says to you: ² I know how many good things you are doing. I have watched your hard work and your patience; I know you don’t tolerate sin among your members, and you have carefully examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but aren’t. You have found out how they lie. ³ You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

⁴ “Yet there is one thing wrong; you don’t love me as at first! ⁵ Think about those times of your first love (how different now!) and turn back to me again and work as you did before; or else I will come and remove your candlestick from its place among the churches.

⁶ “But there is this about you that is good: You hate the deeds of the licentious Nicolaitans,^[k] just as I do.

⁷ “Let this message sink into the ears of anyone who listens to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: To everyone who is victorious, I will give fruit from the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God.

⁸ “To the leader of the church in Smyrna write this letter:

“This message is from him who is the First and Last, who was dead and then came back to life.

⁹ “I know how much you suffer for the Lord, and I know all about your poverty (but you have heavenly riches!). I know the slander of those opposing you, who say that they are Jews—the children of God—but they aren’t, for they support the cause of Satan. ¹⁰ Stop being afraid of what you are about to suffer—for the devil will soon throw some of you into prison to test you. You will be persecuted for ‘ten days.’ Remain faithful even when facing death and I will give you the crown of life—an unending, glorious future.^{[l] 11} Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: He who is victorious shall not be hurt by the Second Death.

¹² “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Pergamos:

“This message is from him who wields the sharp and double-bladed sword. ¹³ I am fully aware that you live in the city where Satan’s throne is, at the center of satanic worship; and yet you have remained loyal to me and refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you by Satan’s devotees.

¹⁴ “And yet I have a few things against you. You tolerate some among you who do as Balaam did when he taught Balak how to ruin the people of Israel by involving them in sexual sin and encouraging them to go to idol feasts. ¹⁵ Yes, you have some of these very same followers of Balaam^[m] among you!

¹⁶ “Change your mind and attitude, or else I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

¹⁷ “Let everyone who can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches: Everyone who is victorious shall eat of the hidden manna, the secret nourishment from heaven; and I will give to each a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one else knows except the one receiving it.

¹⁸ “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Thyatira:

“This is a message from the Son of God, whose eyes penetrate like flames of fire, whose feet are like glowing brass.

¹⁹ “I am aware of all your good deeds—your kindness to the poor, your gifts and service to them; also I know your love and faith and patience, and I can see your constant improvement in all these things.

²⁰ “Yet I have this against you: You are permitting that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach my servants that sex sin is not a serious matter; she urges them to practice immorality and to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to change her mind and attitude, but she refused. ²² Pay attention now to what I am saying: I will lay her upon a sickbed of intense affliction, along with all her immoral followers,^[n] unless they turn again to me, repenting of their sin with her; ²³ and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches deep within men’s hearts, and minds; I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.

^24-25 “As for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, really), I will ask nothing further of you; only hold tightly to what you have until I come.

²⁶ “To everyone who overcomes—who to the very end keeps on doing things that please me—I will give power over the nations. ²⁷ You will rule them with a rod of iron just as my Father gave me the authority to rule them; they will be shattered like a pot of clay that is broken into tiny pieces. ²⁸ And I will give you the Morning Star!

²⁹ “Let all who can hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

3 “To the leader of the church in Sardis write this letter:

“This message is sent to you by the one who has the sevenfold Spirit^[o] of God and the seven stars.

“I know your reputation as a live and active church, but you are dead. ² Now wake up! Strengthen what little remains—for even what is left is at the point of death. Your deeds are far from right in the sight of God. ³ Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly and turn to me again. Unless you do, I will come suddenly upon you, unexpected as a thief, and punish you.

⁴ “Yet even there in Sardis some haven’t soiled their garments with the world’s filth; they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ Everyone who conquers will be clothed in white, and I will not erase his name from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that he is mine.

⁶ “Let all who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

⁷ “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Philadelphia.

“This message is sent to you by the one who is holy and true and has the key of David to open what no one can shut and to shut what no one can open.

⁸ “I know you well; you aren’t strong, but you have tried to obey^[p] and have not denied my Name. Therefore I have opened a door to you that no one can shut.

⁹ “Note this: I will force those supporting the causes of Satan while claiming to be mine^[q] (but they aren’t—they are lying) to fall at your feet and acknowledge that you are the ones I love.

¹⁰ “Because you have patiently obeyed me despite the persecution, therefore I will protect you from the time of Great Tribulation and temptation,^[r] which will come upon the world to test everyone alive. ¹¹ Look, I am coming soon!^[s] Hold tightly to the little strength you have—so that no one will take away your crown.

¹² “As for the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; he will be secure and will go out no more; and I will write my God’s Name on him, and he will be a citizen in the city of my God—the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven from my God; and he will have my new Name inscribed upon him.

¹³ “Let all who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

¹⁴ “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Laodicea:

“This message is from the one who stands firm,^[t] the faithful and true Witness of all that is or was or evermore shall be, the primeval source of God’s creation:

¹⁵ “I know you well—you are neither hot nor cold; I wish you were one or the other! ¹⁶ But since you are merely lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!

¹⁷ “You say, ‘I am rich, with everything I want; I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that spiritually you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

¹⁸ “My advice to you is to buy pure gold from me, gold purified by fire—only then will you truly be rich. And to purchase from me white garments, clean and pure, so you won’t be naked and ashamed; and to get medicine from me to heal your eyes and give you back your sight. ¹⁹ I continually discipline and punish everyone I love; so I must punish you unless you turn from your indifference and become enthusiastic about the things of God.

²⁰ “Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me. ²¹ I will let everyone who conquers sit beside me on my throne, just as I took my place with my Father on his throne when I had conquered. ²² Let those who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

4 Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before, which sounded like a mighty trumpet blast, spoke to me and said, “Come up here and I will show you what must happen in the future!”

² And instantly I was in spirit there in heaven and saw—oh, the glory of it!—a throne and someone sitting on it! ³ Great bursts of light flashed forth from him as from a glittering diamond or from a shining ruby, and a rainbow glowing like an emerald encircled his throne. ⁴ Twenty-four smaller thrones surrounded his, with twenty-four Elders sitting on them; all were clothed in white, with golden crowns upon their heads. ⁵ Lightning and thunder issued from the throne, and there were voices in the thunder. Directly in front of his throne were seven lighted lamps representing the sevenfold Spirit of God.^{[u] 6} Spread out before it was a shiny crystal sea. Four Living Beings, dotted front and back with eyes, stood at the throne’s four sides. ⁷ The first of these Living Beings was in the form of a lion; the second looked like an ox; the third had the face of a man; and the fourth, the form of an eagle, with wings spread out as though in flight. ⁸ Each of these Living Beings had six wings, and the central sections of their wings were covered with eyes. Day after day and night after night they kept on saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty—the one who was, and is, and is to come.”

⁹ And when the Living Beings gave glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four Elders fell down before him and worshiped him, the Eternal Living One, and cast their crowns before the throne, singing, ¹¹ “O Lord, you are worthy to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for you have created all things. They were created and called into being by your act of will.”

5 And I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne, a scroll with writing on the inside and on the back, and sealed with seven seals. ² A mighty angel with a loud voice was shouting out this question: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and to unroll it?” ³ But no one in all heaven or earth or from among the dead was permitted to open and read it.

⁴ Then I wept with disappointment^[v] because no one anywhere was worthy; no one could tell us what it said.

⁵ But one of the twenty-four Elders said to me, “Stop crying, for look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, and proved himself worthy to open the scroll and to break its seven seals.”

⁶ I looked and saw a Lamb standing there before the twenty-four Elders, in front of the throne and the Living Beings, and on the Lamb were wounds that once had caused his death. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God, sent out into every part of the world. ⁷ He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting upon the throne. ⁸ And as he took the scroll, the twenty-four Elders fell down before the Lamb, each with a harp and golden vials filled with incense—the prayers of God’s people!

⁹ They were singing^[w] him a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it; for you were slain, and your blood has bought people from every nation as gifts for God. ¹⁰ And you have gathered them into a kingdom and made them priests of our God; they shall reign upon the earth.”

¹¹ Then in my vision I heard the singing of millions of angels surrounding the throne and the Living Beings and the Elders: ¹² “The Lamb is worthy (loudly they sang it!), the Lamb who was slain. He is worthy to receive the power, and the riches, and the wisdom, and the strength, and the honor, and the glory, and the blessing.”

¹³ And then I heard everyone in heaven and earth, and from the dead beneath the earth and in the sea, exclaiming, “The blessing and the honor and the glory and the power belong to the one sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever.” ¹⁴ And the four Living Beings kept saying, “Amen!” And the twenty-four Elders fell down and worshiped him.

6 As I watched, the Lamb broke the first seal and began to unroll the scroll. Then one of the four Living Beings, with a voice that sounded like thunder, said, “Come!”

² I looked, and there in front of me was a white horse. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed upon his head; he rode out to conquer in many battles and win the war.

³ Then he unrolled the scroll to the second seal and broke it open, too. And I heard the second Living Being say, “Come!”

⁴ This time a red horse rode out. Its rider was given a long sword and the authority to banish peace and bring anarchy to the earth; war and killing broke out everywhere.

⁵ When he had broken the third seal, I heard the third Living Being say, “Come!” And I saw a black horse, with its rider holding a pair of balances in his hand. ⁶ And a voice from among the four Living Beings said, “A loaf of bread for $20, or three pounds of barley flour,A loaf of bread for $20, or three pounds of barley flour, literally, “A choenix of wheat for a denarius, and three choenix of barley for a denarius” there is no olive oil or wine, literally, “do not damage the oil and wine.” but there is no olive oil or wine.”

⁷ And when the fourth seal was broken, I heard the fourth Living Being say, “Come!” ⁸ And now I saw a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. And there followed after him another horse whose rider’s name was Hell. They were given control of one-fourth of the earth, to kill with war and famine and disease and wild animals.

⁹ And when he broke open the fifth seal, I saw an altar, and underneath it all the souls of those who had been martyred for preaching the Word of God and for being faithful in their witnessing. ¹⁰ They called loudly to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge the people of the earth for what they’ve done to us? When will you avenge our blood against those living on the earth?” ¹¹ White robes were given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little longer until their other brothers, fellow servants of Jesus, had been martyred on the earth and joined them.

¹² I watched as he broke the sixth seal, and there was a vast earthquake; and the sun became dark like black cloth, and the moon was blood-red. ¹³ Then the stars of heaven appeared to be falling to earth^[y]—like green fruit from fig trees buffeted by mighty winds. ¹⁴ And the starry heavens disappeared^[z] as though rolled up like a scroll and taken away; and every mountain and island shook and shifted. ¹⁵ The kings of the earth, and world leaders, and rich men, and high-ranking military officers, and all men great and small, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ and cried to the mountains to crush them. “Fall on us,” they pleaded, “and hide us from the face of the one sitting on the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of their anger has come, and who can survive it?”

7 Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds from blowing so that not a leaf rustled in the trees, and the ocean became as smooth as glass. ² And I saw another angel coming from the east, carrying the Great Seal of the Living God. And he shouted out to those four angels who had been given power to injure earth and sea, ³ “Wait! Don’t do anything yet—hurt neither earth nor sea nor trees—until we have placed the Seal of God upon the foreheads of his servants.”

^4-8 How many were given this mark? I heard the number—it was 144,000; out of all twelve tribes of Israel, as listed here:

Judah	12,000
Reuben	12,000
Gad	12,000
Asher	12,000
Naphtali	12,000
Manasseh	12,000
Simeon	12,000
Levi	12,000
Issachar	12,000
Zebulun	12,000
Joseph	12,000
Benjamin	12,000

⁹ After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from all nations and provinces and languages, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they were shouting with a mighty shout, “Salvation comes from our God upon the throne, and from the Lamb.”

¹¹ And now all the angels were crowding around the throne and around the Elders and the four Living Beings, and falling face down before the throne and worshiping God. ¹² “Amen!” they said. “Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be to our God forever and forever. Amen!”

¹³ Then one of the twenty-four Elders asked me, “Do you know who these are, who are clothed in white, and where they come from?”

¹⁴ “No, sir,” I replied. “Please tell me.”

“These are the ones coming out of the Great Tribulation,” he said; “they washed their robes and whitened them by the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ That is why they are here before the throne of God, serving him day and night in his temple. The one sitting on the throne will shelter them; ¹⁶ they will never be hungry again, nor thirsty, and they will be fully protected from the scorching noontime heat. ¹⁷ For the Lamb standing in front of the throne^[aa] will feed them and be their Shepherd and lead them to the springs of the Water of Life. And God will wipe their tears away.”

8 When the Lamb had broken the seventh seal, there was silence throughout all heaven for what seemed like half an hour. ² And I saw the seven angels that stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.

³ Then another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; and a great quantity of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people, to offer upon the golden altar before the throne. ⁴ And the perfume of the incense mixed with prayers ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.

⁵ Then the angel filled the censer with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed and rumbled, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.

⁶ Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts.

⁷ The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down upon the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire so that one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass.

^8-9 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and what appeared to be a huge burning mountain was thrown into the sea, destroying a third of all the ships; and a third of the sea turned red as blood;^[ab] and a third of the fish were killed.

¹⁰ The third angel blew, and a great flaming star fell from heaven upon a third of the rivers and springs. ¹¹ The star was called “Bitterness”^[ac] because it poisoned a third of all the water on the earth and many people died.

¹² The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and immediately a third of the sun was blighted and darkened, and a third of the moon and the stars so that the daylight was dimmed by a third, and the nighttime darkness deepened. ¹³ As I watched, I saw a solitary eagle flying through the heavens crying loudly, “Woe, woe, woe to the people of the earth because of the terrible things that will soon happen when the three remaining angels blow their trumpets.”

9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw one who had fallen to earth from heaven,^[ad] and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. ² When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from some huge furnace, and the sun and air were darkened by the smoke.

³ Then locusts came from the smoke and descended onto the earth and were given power to sting like scorpions. ⁴ They were told not to hurt the grass or plants or trees, but to attack those people who did not have the mark of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were not to kill them, but to torture them for five months with agony like the pain of scorpion stings. ⁶ In those days men will try to kill themselves but won’t be able to—death will not come. They will long to die—but death will flee away!

⁷ The locusts looked like horses armored for battle. They had what looked like golden crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like men’s. ⁸ Their hair was long like women’s, and their teeth were those of lions. ⁹ They wore breastplates that seemed to be of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰ They had stinging tails like scorpions, and their power to hurt, given to them for five months, was in their tails. ¹¹ Their king is the Prince of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon (and in English, the Destroyer).^[ae]

¹² One terror now ends, but there are two more coming!

¹³ The sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the golden altar that stands before the throne of God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel, “Release the four mighty demons^[af] held bound at the great River Euphrates.” ¹⁵ They had been kept in readiness for that year and month and day and hour, and now they were turned loose to kill a third of all mankind. ¹⁶ They led an army of 200,000,000 warriors^[ag]—I heard an announcement of how many there were.

^17-18 I saw their horses spread out before me in my vision; their riders wore fiery-red breastplates, though some were sky-blue and others yellow. The horses’ heads looked much like lions’, and smoke and fire and flaming sulphur billowed from their mouths, killing one-third of all mankind. ¹⁹ Their power of death was not only in their mouths, but in their tails as well, for their tails were similar to serpents’ heads that struck and bit with fatal wounds.

²⁰ But the men left alive after these plagues still refused to worship God! They would not renounce their demon-worship, nor their idols made of gold and silver, brass, stone, and wood—which neither see nor hear nor walk! ²¹ Neither did they change their mind and attitude about all their murders and witchcraft, their immorality and theft.

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face shone like the sun and his feet flashed with fire. ² And he held open in his hand a small scroll. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the earth ³ and gave a great shout—it was like the roar of a lion—and the seven thunders crashed their reply.

⁴ I was about to write what the thunders said when a voice from heaven called to me, “Don’t do it. Their words are not to be revealed.”

⁵ Then the mighty angel standing on the sea and land lifted his right hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it and the earth and all that it contains and the sea and its inhabitants, that there should be no more delay, ⁷ but that when the seventh angel blew his trumpet, then God’s veiled plan—mysterious through the ages ever since it was announced by his servants the prophets—would be fulfilled.

⁸ Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again, “Go and get the unrolled scroll from the mighty angel standing there upon the sea and land.”

⁹ So I approached him and asked him to give me the scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “At first it will taste like honey, but when you swallow it, it will make your stomach sour!” ¹⁰ So I took it from his hand, and ate it! And just as he had said, it was sweet in my mouth, but it gave me a stomachache when I swallowed it.

¹¹ Then he told me, “You must prophesy further about many peoples, nations, tribes, and kings.”

11 Now I was given a measuring stick and told to go and measure the temple of God, including the inner court where the altar stands, and to count the number of worshipers.^{[ah] 2} “But do not measure the outer court,” I was told, “for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the Holy City for forty-two months.^{[ai] 3} And I will give power to my two witnesses to prophesy 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴ These two prophets are the two olive trees,^[aj] and two candlesticks standing before the God of all the earth. ⁵ Anyone trying to harm them will be killed by bursts of fire shooting from their mouths. ⁶ They have power to shut the skies so that no rain will fall during the three and a half years they prophesy, and to turn rivers and oceans to blood, and to send every kind of plague upon the earth as often as they wish.

⁷ When they complete the three and a half years of their solemn testimony, the tyrant who comes out of the bottomless pit^[ak] will declare war against them and conquer and kill them; ^8-9 and for three and a half days their bodies will be exposed in the streets of Jerusalem (the city fittingly described as “Sodom” or “Egypt”)—the very place where their Lord was crucified. No one will be allowed to bury them, and people from many nations will crowd around to gaze at them. ¹⁰ And there will be a worldwide holiday—people everywhere will rejoice and give presents to each other and throw parties to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them so much!

¹¹ But after three and a half days, the spirit of life from God will enter them, and they will stand up! And great fear will fall on everyone. ¹² Then a loud voice will shout from heaven, “Come up!” And they will rise to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watch.

¹³ The same hour there will be a terrible earthquake that levels a tenth of the city, leaving 7,000 dead. Then everyone left will, in their terror, give glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second woe is past, but the third quickly follows:

¹⁵ For just then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting down from heaven, “The Kingdom of this world now belongs to our Lord, and to his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.”^[al]

¹⁶ And the twenty-four Elders sitting on their thrones before God threw themselves down in worship, saying, ¹⁷ “We give thanks, Lord God Almighty, who is and was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign. ¹⁸ The nations were angry with you, but now it is your turn to be angry with them. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants—prophets and people alike, all who fear your Name, both great and small—and to destroy those who have caused destruction upon the earth.”

¹⁹ Then, in heaven, the temple of God was opened and the ark of his covenant could be seen inside. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed and roared, and there was a great hailstorm, and the world was shaken by a mighty earthquake.

12 Then a great pageant appeared in heaven, portraying things to come. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and screamed in the pain of her labor, awaiting her delivery.

³ Suddenly a red Dragon appeared, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. ⁴ His tail drew along behind him a third of the stars, which he plunged to the earth. He stood before the woman as she was about to give birth to her child, ready to eat the baby as soon as it was born.

⁵ She gave birth to a boy who was to rule all nations with a heavy hand, and he was caught up to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her, to take care of her for 1,260 days.

⁷ Then there was war in heaven; Michael and the angels under his command fought the Dragon and his hosts of fallen angels. ⁸ And the Dragon lost the battle and was forced from heaven. ⁹ This great Dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down onto the earth with all his army.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has happened at last! God’s salvation and the power and the rule, and the authority of his Christ are finally here; for the Accuser of our brothers has been thrown down from heaven onto earth—he accused them day and night before our God. ¹¹ They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony; for they did not love their lives but laid them down for him. ¹² Rejoice, O heavens! You citizens of heaven, rejoice! Be glad! But woe to you people of the world, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.”

¹³ And when the Dragon found himself cast down to earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the child. ¹⁴ But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle, to fly into the wilderness to the place prepared for her, where she was cared for and protected from the Serpent, the Dragon, for three and a half years.^[am]

¹⁵ And from the Serpent’s mouth a vast flood of water gushed out and swept toward the woman in an effort to get rid of her; ¹⁶ but the earth helped her by opening its mouth and swallowing the flood! ¹⁷ Then the furious Dragon set out to attack the rest of her children—all who were keeping God’s commandments and confessing that they belong to Jesus. ¹⁸ He stood waiting on an ocean beach.

13 And now, in my vision, I saw a strange Creature rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, and ten crowns upon its horns. And written on each head were blasphemous names, each one defying and insulting God. ² This Creature looked like a leopard but had bear’s feet and a lion’s mouth! And the Dragon gave him his own power and throne and great authority.

³ I saw that one of his heads seemed wounded beyond recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! All the world marveled at this miracle and followed the Creature in awe. ⁴ They worshiped the Dragon for giving him such power, and they worshiped the strange Creature. “Where is there anyone as great as he?” they exclaimed. “Who is able to fight against him?”

⁵ Then the Dragon encouraged the Creature to speak great blasphemies against the Lord; and gave him authority to control the earth for forty-two months. ⁶ All that time he blasphemed God’s Name and his temple and all those living in heaven. ⁷ The Dragon gave him power to fight against God’s people^[an] and to overcome them, and to rule over all nations and language groups throughout the world. ⁸ And all mankind—whose names were not written down before the founding of the world in the slain Lamb’s Book of Life^[ao]—worshiped the evil Creature.

⁹ Anyone who can hear, listen carefully: ¹⁰ The people of God who are destined for prison will be arrested and taken away; those destined for death will be killed.^[ap] But do not be dismayed, for here is your opportunity for endurance and confidence.

¹¹ Then I saw another strange animal, this one coming up out of the earth, with two little horns like those of a lamb but a fearsome voice like the Dragon’s. ¹² He exercised all the authority of the Creature whose death-wound had been healed, whom he required all the world to worship. ¹³ He did unbelievable miracles such as making fire flame down to earth from the skies while everyone was watching. ¹⁴ By doing these miracles, he was deceiving people everywhere. He could do these marvelous things whenever the first Creature was there to watch him. And he ordered the people of the world to make a great statue of the first Creature, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. ¹⁵ He was permitted to give breath to this statue and even make it speak! Then the statue ordered that anyone refusing to worship it must die!

¹⁶ He required everyone—great and small, rich and poor, slave and free—to be tattooed with a certain mark on the right hand or on the forehead. ¹⁷ And no one could get a job or even buy in any store without the permit of that mark, which was either the name of the Creature or the code number of his name. ¹⁸ Here is a puzzle that calls for careful thought to solve it. Let those who are able, interpret this code: the numerical values of the letters in his name add to 666!^[aq]

14 Then I saw a Lamb standing on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and with him were 144,000 who had his Name and his Father’s Name written on their foreheads. ² And I heard a sound from heaven like the roaring of a great waterfall or the rolling of mighty thunder. It was the singing of a choir accompanied by harps.

³ This tremendous choir—144,000 strong—sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four Living Beings and the twenty-four Elders; and no one could sing this song except those 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ For they are spiritually undefiled, pure as virgins,^[ar] following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the men on the earth as a consecrated offering to God and the Lamb. ⁵ No falsehood can be charged against them; they are blameless.

⁶ And I saw another angel flying through the heavens, carrying the everlasting Good News to preach to those on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.

⁷ “Fear God,” he shouted, “and extol his greatness. For the time has come when he will sit as Judge. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all its sources.”

⁸ Then another angel followed him through the skies, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen—that great city—because she seduced the nations of the world and made them share the wine of her intense impurity and sin.”

⁹ Then a third angel followed them shouting, “Anyone worshiping the Creature from the sea^[as] and his statue, and accepting his mark on the forehead or the hand ¹⁰ must drink the wine of the anger of God; it is poured out undiluted into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. ¹¹ The smoke of their torture rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the Creature and his statue, and have been tattooed with the code of his name. ¹² Let this encourage God’s people to endure patiently every trial and persecution, for they are his saints who remain firm to the end in obedience to his commands and trust in Jesus.”

¹³ And I heard a voice in the heavens above me saying, “Write this down: At last the time has come for his martyrs^[at] to enter into their full reward. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for now they shall rest from all their toils and trials; for their good deeds follow them to heaven!” ¹⁴ Then the scene changed, and I saw a white cloud and someone sitting on it who looked like Jesus, who was called “The Son of Man,”^[au] with a crown of solid gold upon his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

¹⁵ Then an angel came from the temple and called out to him, “Begin to use the sickle, for the time has come for you to reap; the harvest is ripe on the earth.” ¹⁶ So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the harvest was gathered in. ¹⁷ After that another angel came from the temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.

¹⁸ Just then the angel who has power to destroy the world with fire,^[av] shouted to the angel with the sickle, “Use your sickle now to cut off the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are fully ripe for judgment.” ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle on the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ²⁰ And the grapes were trodden in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out in a stream 200 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.

15 And I saw in heaven another mighty pageant showing things to come: Seven angels were assigned to carry down to earth the seven last plagues—and then at last God’s anger will be finished.

² Spread out before me was what seemed to be an ocean of fire and glass, and on it stood all those who had been victorious over the Evil Creature and his statue and his mark and number. All were holding harps of God, ^3-4 and they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:

⁵ Then I looked and saw that the Holy of Holies of the temple in heaven was thrown wide open!

⁶ The seven angels who were assigned to pour out the seven plagues then came from the temple, clothed in spotlessly white linen, with golden belts across their chests. ⁷ And one of the four Living Beings handed each of them a golden flask filled with the terrible wrath of the Living God who lives forever and forever. ⁸ The temple was filled with smoke from his glory and power; and no one could enter until the seven angels had completed pouring out the seven plagues.

16 And I heard a mighty voice shouting from the temple to the seven angels, “Now go your ways and empty out the seven flasks of the wrath of God upon the earth.”

² So the first angel left the temple and poured out his flask over the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the Creature and was worshiping his statue.

³ The second angel poured out his flask upon the oceans, and they became like the watery blood of a dead man; and everything in all the oceans died.

⁴ The third angel poured out his flask upon the rivers and springs and they became blood. ⁵ And I heard this angel of the waters declaring, “You are just in sending this judgment, O Holy One, who is and was, ⁶ for your saints and prophets have been martyred and their blood poured out upon the earth; and now, in turn, you have poured out the blood of those who murdered them; it is their just reward.”

⁷ And I heard the angel of the altar say,^[ax] “Yes, Lord God Almighty, your punishments are just and true.”

⁸ Then the fourth angel poured out his flask upon the sun, causing it to scorch all men with its fire. ⁹ Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God who sent the plagues—they did not change their mind and attitude to give him glory.

¹⁰ Then the fifth angel poured out his flask upon the throne of the Creature from the sea,^[ay] and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. And his subjects gnawed their tongues in anguish, ¹¹ and cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores, but they refused to repent of all their evil deeds.

¹² The sixth angel poured out his flask upon the great River Euphrates and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies westward without hindrance. ¹³ And I saw three evil spirits disguised as frogs leap from the mouth of the Dragon, the Creature, and his False Prophet.^{[az] 14} These miracle-working demons conferred with all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great coming Judgment Day of God Almighty.

¹⁵ “Take note: I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are awaiting me, who keep their robes in readiness and will not need to walk naked and ashamed.”

¹⁶ And they gathered all the armies of the world near a place called, in Hebrew, Armageddon—the Mountain of Megiddo.

¹⁷ Then the seventh angel poured out his flask into the air; and a mighty shout came from the throne of the temple in heaven, saying, “It is finished!”^{[ba] 18} Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed; and there was a great earthquake of a magnitude unprecedented in human history. ¹⁹ The great city of “Babylon” split into three sections, and cities around the world fell in heaps of rubble; and so all of “Babylon’s” sins were remembered in God’s thoughts, and she was punished to the last drop of anger in the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. ²⁰ And islands vanished, and mountains flattened out, ²¹ and there was an incredible hailstorm from heaven; hailstones weighing a hundred pounds fell from the sky onto the people below, and they cursed God because of the terrible hail.

17 One of the seven angels who had poured out the plagues came over and talked with me. “Come with me,” he said, “and I will show you what is going to happen to the Notorious Prostitute, who sits upon the many waters of the world. ² The kings of the world have had immoral relations with her, and the people of the earth have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality.”

³ So the angel took me in spirit into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet animal that had seven heads and ten horns,^[bb] written all over with blasphemies against God. ⁴ The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls, and held in her hand a golden goblet full of obscenities:

⁵ A mysterious caption was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of Prostitutes and of Idol Worship Everywhere around the World.”

⁶ I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus she had killed. I stared at her in horror.

⁷ “Why are you so surprised?” the angel asked. “I’ll tell you who she is and what the animal she is riding represents. ⁸ He was alive but isn’t now. And yet, soon he will come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction;^[bc] and the people of earth, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life before the world began, will be dumbfounded at his reappearance after being dead.

⁹ “And now think hard: his seven heads represent a certain city^[bd] built on seven hills where this woman has her residence. ¹⁰ They also represent seven kings. Five have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief. ¹¹ The scarlet animal that died is the eighth king, having reigned before as one of the seven; after his second reign, he too, will go to his doom. ¹² His ten horns are ten kings who have not yet risen to power; they will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment, to reign with him. ¹³ They will all sign a treaty giving their power and strength to him. ¹⁴ Together they will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them; for he is Lord over all lords, and King of kings, and his people are the called and chosen and faithful ones.

¹⁵ “The oceans, lakes, and rivers that the woman is sitting on represent masses of people of every race and nation.

¹⁶ “The scarlet animal and his ten horns—which represent ten kings who will reign with him—all hate the woman, and will attack her and leave her naked and ravaged by fire. ¹⁷ For God will put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes: They will mutually agree to give their authority to the scarlet animal so that the words of God will be fulfilled. ¹⁸ And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

18 After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor.

² He gave a mighty shout, “Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen; she has become a den of demons, a haunt of devils and every kind of evil spirit.^{[be] 3} For all the nations have drunk the fatal wine of her intense immorality. The rulers of earth have enjoyed themselves with her,^[bf] and businessmen throughout the world have grown rich from all her luxurious living.”

⁴ Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, “Come away from her, my people; do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her. ⁵ For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God is ready to judge her for her crimes. ⁶ Do to her as she has done to you, and more—give double penalty for all her evil deeds. She brewed many a cup of woe for others—give twice as much to her. ⁷ She has lived in luxury and pleasure—match it now with torments and with sorrows. She boasts, ‘I am queen upon my throne. I am no helpless widow. I will not experience sorrow.’ ⁸ Therefore the sorrows of death and mourning and famine shall overtake her in a single day, and she shall be utterly consumed by fire; for mighty is the Lord who judges her.”

⁹ And the world leaders who took part in her immoral acts and enjoyed her favors will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. ¹⁰ They will stand far off, trembling with fear and crying out, “Alas, Babylon, that mighty city! In one moment her judgment fell.”

¹¹ The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. ¹² She was their biggest customer for gold and silver, precious stones, pearls, finest linens, purple silks, and scarlet; and every kind of perfumed wood, and ivory goods, and most expensive wooden carvings, and brass, and iron, and marble; ¹³ and spices, and perfumes, and incense, ointment, and frankincense, wine, olive oil, and fine flour; wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and slaves—and even the souls of men.

¹⁴ “All the fancy things you loved so much are gone,” they cry. “The dainty luxuries and splendor that you prized so much will never be yours again. They are gone forever.”

¹⁵ And so the merchants who have become wealthy by selling her these things shall stand at a distance, fearing danger to themselves, weeping and crying, ¹⁶ “Alas, that great city, so beautiful—like a woman clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens, decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls! ¹⁷ In one moment, all the wealth of the city is gone!”

And all the shipowners and captains of the merchant ships and crews will stand a long way off, ¹⁸ crying as they watch the smoke ascend, and saying, “Where in all the world is there another city such as this?” ¹⁹ And they will throw dust on their heads in their sorrow and say, “Alas, alas, for that great city! She made us all rich from her great wealth. And now in a single hour all is gone. . . . ”

²⁰ But you, O heaven, rejoice over her fate; and you, O children of God and the prophets and the apostles! For at last God has given judgment against her for you.

²¹ Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder shaped like a millstone and threw it into the ocean and shouted, “Babylon, that great city, shall be thrown away as I have thrown away this stone, and she shall disappear forever. ²² Never again will the sound of music be there—no more pianos, saxophones, and trumpets.^[bg] No industry of any kind will ever again exist there, and there will be no more milling of the grain. ²³ Dark, dark will be her nights; not even a lamp in a window will ever be seen again. No more joyous wedding bells and happy voices of the bridegrooms and the brides. Her businessmen were known around the world, and she deceived all nations with her sorceries. ²⁴ And she was responsible for the blood of all the martyred prophets and the saints.”

19 After this I heard the shouting of a vast crowd in heaven, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Salvation is from our God. Honor and authority belong to him alone; ² for his judgments are just and true. He has punished the Great Prostitute who corrupted the earth with her sin;^[bh] and he has avenged the murder of his servants.”

³ Again and again their voices rang, “Praise the Lord! The smoke from her burning ascends forever and forever!”

⁴ Then the twenty-four Elders and four Living Beings fell down and worshiped God, who was sitting upon the throne, and said, “Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”

⁵ And out of the throne came a voice that said, “Praise our God, all you his servants, small and great, who fear him.”

⁶ Then I heard again what sounded like the shouting of a huge crowd, or like the waves of a hundred oceans crashing on the shore, or like the mighty rolling of great thunder, “Praise the Lord. For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. ⁷ Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him; for the time has come for the wedding banquet of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. ⁸ She is permitted to wear the cleanest and whitest and finest of linens.” (Fine linen represents the good deeds done by the people of God.)

⁹ And the angel^[bi] dictated this sentence to me: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “God himself has stated this.”

¹⁰ Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No! Don’t! For I am a servant of God just as you are, and as your brother Christians are, who testify of their faith in Jesus. Worship God. The purpose of all prophecy and of all I have shown you is to tell about Jesus.”^[bj]

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened and a white horse standing there; and the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True—the one who justly punishes and makes war. ¹² His eyes were like flames, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on his forehead,^[bk] and only he knew its meaning. ¹³ He was clothed with garments dipped in blood, and his title was “The Word of God.”^{[bl] 14} The armies of heaven, dressed in finest linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.

¹⁵ In his mouth he held a sharp sword to strike down the nations; he ruled them with an iron grip; and he trod the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. ¹⁶ On his robe and thigh was written this title: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sunshine, shouting loudly to the birds, “Come! Gather together for the supper of the Great God! ¹⁸ Come and eat the flesh of kings, and captains, and great generals; of horses and riders; and of all humanity, both great and small, slave and free.”

¹⁹ Then I saw the Evil Creature gathering the governments of the earth and their armies to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. ²⁰ And the Evil Creature was captured, and with him the False Prophet,^[bm] who could do mighty miracles when the Evil Creature was present—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the Evil Creature’s mark, and who worshiped his statue. Both of them—the Evil Creature and his False Prophet—were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire that burns with sulphur. ²¹ And their entire army was killed with the sharp sword in the mouth of the one riding the white horse, and all the birds of heaven were gorged with their flesh.

20 Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. ² He seized the Dragon—that old Serpent, the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years, ³ and threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so that he could not fool the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterwards he would be released again for a little while.

⁴ Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those who had been given the right to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus, for proclaiming the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the Creature or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They had come to life again and now they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

⁵ This is the First Resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who share in the First Resurrection. For them the Second Death holds no terrors, for they will be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

⁷ When the thousand years end, Satan will be let out of his prison. ⁸ He will go out to deceive the nations of the world and gather them together, with Gog and Magog, for battle—a mighty host, numberless as sand along the shore. ⁹ They will go up across the broad plain of the earth and surround God’s people and the beloved city of Jerusalem^[bn] on every side. But fire from God in heaven will flash down on the attacking armies and consume them.

¹⁰ Then the devil who had betrayed them will again^[bo] be thrown into the Lake of Fire burning with sulphur where the Creature and False Prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

¹¹ And I saw a great white throne and the one who sat upon it, from whose face the earth and sky fled away, but they found no place to hide.^{[bp] 12} I saw the dead, great and small, standing before God; and The Books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in The Books, each according to the deeds he had done. ¹³ The oceans surrendered the bodies buried in them; and the earth and the underworld gave up the dead in them. Each was judged according to his deeds. ¹⁴ And Death and Hell were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the Second Death—the Lake of Fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone’s name was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.

21 Then I saw a new earth (with no oceans!) and a new sky, for the present earth and sky had disappeared. ² And I, John, saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. It was a glorious sight, beautiful as a bride at her wedding.

³ I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, “Look, the home of God is now among men, and he will live with them and they will be his people; yes, God himself will be among them.^{[bq] 4} He will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. All of that has gone forever.”

⁵ And the one sitting on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true: ⁶ It is finished! I am the A and the Z—the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty the springs of the Water of Life—as a gift! ⁷ Everyone who conquers will inherit all these blessings, and I will be his God and he will be my son. ⁸ But cowards who turn back from following me, and those who are unfaithful to me, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those conversing with demons, and idol worshipers and all liars—their doom is in the Lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death.”

⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had emptied the flasks containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me and I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

¹⁰ In a vision he took me to a towering mountain peak, and from there I watched that wondrous city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of the skies from God. ¹¹ It was filled with the glory of God and flashed and glowed like a precious gem, crystal clear like jasper. ¹² Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. ¹³ There were three gates on each side—north, south, east, and west. ¹⁴ The walls had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵ The angel held in his hand a golden measuring stick to measure the city and its gates and walls. ¹⁶ When he measured it, he found it was a square as wide as it was long; in fact it was in the form of a cube, for its height was exactly the same as its other dimensions—1,500 miles each way. ¹⁷ Then he measured the thickness of the walls and found them to be 216 feet across (the angel called out these measurements to me, using standard units).^[br]

^18-20 The city itself was pure, transparent gold like glass! The wall was made of jasper, and was built on twelve layers of foundation stones inlaid with gems: the first layer^[bs] with jasper; the second with sapphire; the third with chalcedony; the fourth with emerald; the fifth with sardonyx; the sixth layer with sardus; the seventh with chrysolite; the eighth with beryl; the ninth with topaz; the tenth with chrysoprase; the eleventh with jacinth; the twelfth with amethyst.

²¹ The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure, transparent gold, like glass.

²² No temple could be seen in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are worshiped in it everywhere.^{[bt] 23} And the city has no need of sun or moon to light it, for the glory of God and of the Lamb illuminate it. ²⁴ Its light will light the nations of the earth, and the rulers of the world will come and bring their glory to it. ²⁵ Its gates never close; they stay open all day long—and there is no night! ²⁶ And the glory and honor of all the nations shall be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing evil will be permitted in it—no one immoral or dishonest—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

22 And he pointed out to me a river of pure Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, ² coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew Trees of Life,^[bu] bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.

³ There shall be nothing in the city that is evil; for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. ⁴ And they shall see his face; and his name shall be written on their foreheads. ⁵ And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will be their light; and they shall reign forever and ever.

^6-7 Then the angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true: ‘I am coming soon!’^[bv] God, who tells his prophets what the future holds, has sent his angel to tell you this will happen soon. Blessed are those who believe it and all else written in the scroll.”

⁸ I, John, saw and heard all these things, and fell down to worship the angel who showed them to me; ⁹ but again he said, “No, don’t do anything like that. I, too, am a servant of Jesus as you are, and as your brothers the prophets are, as well as all those who heed the truth stated in this book. Worship God alone.”

¹⁰ Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up what you have written, for the time of fulfillment is near. ¹¹ And when that time comes, all doing wrong will do it more and more; the vile will become more vile; good men will be better; those who are holy will continue on in greater holiness.”

¹² “See, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me, to repay everyone according to the deeds he has done. ¹³ I am the A and the Z, the Beginning and the End, the First and Last. ¹⁴ Blessed forever are all who are washing their robes, to have the right to enter in through the gates of the city and to eat the fruit from the Tree of Life.

¹⁵ “Outside the city are those who have strayed away from God, and the sorcerers and the immoral and murderers and idolaters, and all who love to lie, and do so.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you to tell the churches all these things. I am both David’s Root and his Descendant. I am the bright Morning Star. ¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let each one who hears them say the same, ‘Come.’ Let the thirsty one come—anyone who wants to; let him come and drink the Water of Life without charge. ¹⁸ And I solemnly declare to everyone who reads this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God shall add to him the plagues described in this book. ¹⁹ And if anyone subtracts any part of these prophecies, God shall take away his share in the Tree of Life, and in the Holy City just described.

²⁰ “He who has said all these things declares: Yes, I am coming soon!”

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

²¹ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!