(Isaiah 65:17–25)
1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and the oceans no longer existed.
2
I saw God’s holy city, which is the new city of Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. God had prepared it and decorated it, just as women decorate a bride in order to marry a man.
3
Then I heard a loud voice calling out from the throne of God saying, “Listen to this! Now God will live with people. He will live right in the midst of them! They will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.
4
He will cause them to no longer be sad. He will stop them from weeping ever again. None of them will ever again die or mourn or cry or suffer pain because God has taken away those things and they are gone forever.”
5
Then God, who sits on the throne, said, “Listen to this! I am now making everything new!” He said to me: “Write these things that I have told you because you can trust that I will certainly cause them to happen.”
6
He also said to me, “I have completed all these things! I am the one who began all things and the one who will cause all things to end. To everyone who wants it, I will freely give water from the spring that causes people to live forever.
7
I will give this to all who are victorious over Satan. I will be their God, and they will be my children.
8
But those who are cowardly, those who do not believe in me, those who do detestable things, those who murder people, those who sin sexually, those who do witchcraft, those who worship idols, and every liar will all suffer in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That is what it means to die a second time.”
The New Jerusalem
9
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls of wine, the wine that caused the seven last ways of suffering, came and said to me, “Come with me and I will show you the people who have permanently united with the Lamb as a woman marries a man!”
10
Then God’s Spirit took control of me, and the angel took me to the top of a very high mountain. He showed me God’s holy city, the new Jerusalem, which was coming down out of heaven from God.
11
It was shining with the brilliant light that came from God himself. The city was shining as a very precious jasper stone shines, and it was clear like crystal.
12
Around the city was a very high wall. The wall had twelve gates. An angel was at each gate. The names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written over the gates. Each gate had the name of one tribe.
13
Three gates were on the east side, three gates were on the north side, three gates were on the south side, and three gates were on the west side.
14
The city wall had twelve foundation stones. On each foundation stone was the name of one of the twelve apostles whom the Lamb had appointed.
15
The angel who was speaking to me carried a golden measuring rod, a rod that he used to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.
16
The city was square in shape; it was as long as it was wide. After the angel measured the city with his rod, he reported that it was 2,200 kilometers long, and that its width and height were each the same as its length.
17
He measured its wall and reported that it was sixty-six meters thick. The angel used the measure that people normally use.
18
The city wall was made of something like the green stone that we call jasper. The city itself was made of pure gold that looked like clear glass.
19
The foundations of the wall of the city were beautifully made with precious stones. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second foundation stone was sapphire, the third foundation stone was chalcedony, the fourth foundation stone was emerald,
20
the fifth foundation stone was sardonyx, the sixth foundation stone was sardius, the seventh foundation stone was chrysolite, the eighth foundation stone was beryl, the ninth foundation stone was topaz, the tenth foundation stone was chrysoprase, the eleventh foundation stone was jacinth, and the twelfth foundation stone was amethyst.
21
The twelve gates of the city were something like huge pearls. Each gate was like a single pearl. The city streets appeared to be pure gold that looked like clear glass.
22
There was no temple in the city. Lord God himself, who rules over all, and the Lamb are there, so there was no need for a temple.
23
The city will not need the sun or the moon to light the city because the light coming from God will light the city, and the Lamb will also be its light.
24
The people groups will live with the light of the city shining on them. The kings of the earth will bring their wealth into the city to honor God and the lamb.
25
The gates of the city will not be shut at the end of the day as they usually are shut because there will be no night there.
26
The people of the world will also bring their wealth into the city.
27
Nothing that is morally impure, no one who does deeds that God considers detestable, and no one who tells lies will ever enter that city. Only those people whose names are written in the book that belongs to the Lamb, the book that has the names of people who have eternal life, will be there.
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