Revelation 21

ENGWEBEnglish27 verses
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1I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.

2I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

3I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

4He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”

5He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”

6He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.

7He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.

8But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb’s bride.”

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

11having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

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

14The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

15He who spoke with me had for a measure, a golden reed, to measure the city, its gates, and its walls.

16The city is square, and its length is as great as its breadth. He measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand twelve stadia. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.

17Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

18The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.

19The 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;

20the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst.

21The 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.

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

23The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

24The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

25Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there),

26and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter.

27There 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.

Commentary

21:1-8 The new heaven and the new earth will not be separate from each other; the earth of the saints, their glorified, bodies, will be heavenly. The old world, with all its troubles and tumults, will have passed away. There will be no sea; this aptly represents freedom from conflicting passions, temptations, troubles, changes, and alarms; from whatever can divide or interrupt the communion of saints. This new Jerusalem is the church of God in its new and perfect state, the church triumphant. Its blessedness came wholly from God, and depends on him. The presence of God with his people in heaven, will not be interrupt as it is on earth, he will dwell with them continually. All effects of former trouble shall be done away. They have often been in tears, by reason of sin, of affliction, of the calamities of the church; but no signs, no remembrance of former sorrows shall remain. Christ makes all things new. If we are willing and desirous that the gracious Redeemer should make all things new in order hearts and nature, he will make all things new in respect of our situation, till he has brought us to enjoy complete happiness. See the certainty of the promise. God gives his titles, Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, as a pledge for the full performance. Sensual and sinful pleasures are muddy and poisoned waters; and the best earthly comforts are like the scanty supplies of a cistern; when idolized, they become broken cisterns, and yield only vexation. But the joys which Christ imparts are like waters springing from a fountain, pure, refreshing, abundant, and eternal. The sanctifying consolations of the Holy Spirit prepare for heavenly happiness; they are streams which flow for us in the wilderness. The fearful durst not meet the difficulties of religion, their slavish fear came from their unbelief; but those who were so dastardly as not to dare to take up the cross of Christ, were yet so desperate as to run into abominable wickedness. The agonies and terrors of the first death will lead to the far greater terrors and agonies of eternal death.

CHAPTER 21Re 21:1-27. The New Heaven and Earth: New Jerusalem Out of Heaven.The remaining two chapters describe the eternal and consummated kingdom of God and the saints on the new earth. As the world of nations is to be pervaded by divine influence in the millennium, so the world of nature shall be, not annihilated, but transfigured universally in the eternal state which follows it. The earth was cursed for man's sake; but is redeemed by the second Adam. Now is the Church; in the millennium shall be the kingdom; and after that shall be the new world wherein God shall be all in all. The "day of the Lord" and the conflagration of the earth are in 2Pe 3:10, 11 spoken of as if connected together, from which many argue against a millennial interval between His coming and the general conflagration of the old earth, preparatory to the new; but "day" is used often of a whole period comprising events intimately connected together, as are the Lord's second advent, the millennium, and the general conflagration and judgment. Compare Ge 2:4 as to the wide use of "day." Man's soul is redeemed by regeneration through the Holy Spirit now; man's body shall be redeemed at the resurrection; man's dwelling-place, His inheritance, the earth, shall be redeemed perfectly at the creation of the new heaven and earth, which shall exceed in glory the first Paradise, as much as the second Adam exceeds in glory the first Adam before the fall, and as man regenerated in body and soul shall exceed man as he was at creation.1. the first—that is the former.passed away—Greek, in A and B is "were departed" (Greek, "apeelthon," not as in English Version, "pareelthe").was—Greek, "is," which graphically sets the thing before our eyes as present.no more sea—The sea is the type of perpetual unrest. Hence our Lord rebukes it as an unruly hostile troubler of His people. It symbolized the political tumults out of which "the beast" arose, Re 13:1. As the physical corresponds to the spiritual and moral world, so the absence of sea, after the metamorphosis of the earth by fire, answers to the unruffled state of solid peace which shall then prevail. The sea, though severing lands from one another, is now, by God's eliciting of good from evil, made the medium of communication between countries through navigation. Then man shall possess inherent powers which shall make the sea no longer necessary, but an element which would detract from a perfect state. A "river" and "water" are spoken of in Re 22:1, 2, probably literal (that is, with such changes of the natural properties of water, as correspond analogically to man's own transfigured body), as well as symbolical. The sea was once the element of the world's destruction, and is still the source of death to thousands, whence after the millennium, at the general judgment, it is specially said, "The sea gave up the dead … in it." Then it shall cease to destroy, or disturb, being removed altogether on account of its past destructions.

21:1 And I saw - So it runs, Rev 19:11, 20:1,4,11, in a succession. All these several representations follow one another in order: so the vision reaches into eternity. A new heaven and a new earth - After the resurrection and general judgment. St. John is not now describing a flourishing state of the church, but a new and eternal state of all things. For the first heaven and the first earth - Not only the lowest part of heaven, not only the solar system, but the whole ethereal heaven, with all its host, whether of planets or fixed stars, Isai 34:4 Matt 24:29. All the former things will be done away, that all may become new, verse s 4,5, 2Peter 3:10,12. Are passed away - But in the fourth verse it is said, are gone away. There the stronger word is used; for death, mourning, and sorrow go away all together: the former heaven and earth only pass away, giving place to the new heaven and the new earth.

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG አዲስ ሰማይንና አዲስ ምድርንም አየሁ፥ ፊተኛው ሰማይና ፊተኛይቱ ምድር አልፈዋልና፥ ባሕርም ወደ ፊት የለም። አማርኛ ENGNIV Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no lon… English BCV ብድሕሪዙይ፥ ሓድሽ ሰማይን ሓዳስ ምድርን ረአኹ። እቲ ቐዳማይ ሰማይን፥ እታ ቐዳመይቲ ምድርን፥ ሓሊፎም እዮም እሞ፥ ባሕሪ እውን ደጊም ኣይህሉን። ትግርኛ GAZBIB Kana booddees, ani bantii waaqaa haaraadhaa fi lafa haaraa nan arge; bantiin waaqaa inni duraa lafti inni duraas darban… Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ወእምዝ ርኢኩ ሰማየ ሐዲሰ ወምድረ ሐዳሰ እስመ ሰሰለ ሰማይ ቀዳማዊ ወምድርኒ ቀዳሚት ወባሕርኒ ተስዕረት እንከ። giz GAZGAZ Kana booddees, ani bantii waaqaa haaraadhaa fi lafa haaraa nan arge; bantiin waaqaa inni duraa lafti inni duraas darban… Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum ብድሕሪዙይ፥ ሓድሽ ሰማይን ሓዳስ ምድርን ረአኹ። እቲ ቐዳማይ ሰማይን፥ እታ ቐዳመይቲ ምድርን፥ ሓሊፎም እዮም እሞ፥ ባሕሪ እውን ደጊም ኣይህሉን። ትግርኛ AMHNIV ከዚህ በኋላ አዲስ ሰማይና አዲስ ምድር አየሁ፤ የመጀመሪያው ሰማይና የመጀመሪያዪቱ ምድር ዐልፈዋልና፤ ባሕርም ከእንግዲህ ወዲህ አይኖርም። አማርኛ