Revelation 21

ENGNIVEnglish27 verses4:55 Listen
Listen 4:55 · Standard · Dramatized Open in Biblight

1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.

7He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last 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, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

11It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

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

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, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.

16The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.

17He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using.

18The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.

19The foundations of the city walls were decorated 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.

21The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.

22I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

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

24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

25On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

26The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

27Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names 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.

Read the full commentary Audio, full commentary and offline reading

Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG አዲስ ሰማይንና አዲስ ምድርንም አየሁ፥ ፊተኛው ሰማይና ፊተኛይቱ ምድር አልፈዋልና፥ ባሕርም ወደ ፊት የለም። አማርኛ 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 SWAHSUV Kisha nikaona mbingu mpya na nchi mpya; kwa maana mbingu za kwanza na nchi ya kwanza zimekwisha kupita, wala hapana bah… Kiswahili