Revelation of John the Theologian

1.1 A revelation from Jesus the anointed King, given to himby God so that he may show his slaves what has to happen soon. He sent it off through his angel, sealed,to his slave John,

1.2 who has testified to everything he saw in God’s message, and in the testimony of Jesus the Messiah.

1.3 Blessed is the one who reads, and blessed are those whohear the words of the prophecy and mind what’s written there: the time is near!

1.4 From John to the seven assemblies in the province of Asia: grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who’s coming, and from the seven spirits before his throne,

1.5 and from Jesus the Messiah King, the trustworthy witness, firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who has loved us and freed us from our sins in his blood —

1.6 he even made us a kingdom, made us priests for God his father — to him be glory and power into the eons, amen.

1.7 Look, he’s coming surrounded by clouds, and every eye will see him — those, too, who pierced him — and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Yes, amen!

1.8 I am the alpha and the omega, says the Lord God, who is and was and will come, ruler of all.

1.9 I, John, your brother and sharer in your affliction, inyour kingdom, in your endurance in Jesus, was put on the island called Patmos, on account of my preaching the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

1.10 On the Lord’s day, I was put in the spirit, and I heardbehind me a great voice, like the voice of a trumpet,

1.11 and it said, Write what you see onto a scroll, and send it to the sevenassemblies, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, toPhiladelphia, and to Laodicea.

1.12 I turned to see the voice that was talking with me. I turned and saw seven golden lampstands,

1.13 and amid the lampstands someone like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

1.14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyeswere as a flame of fire;

1.15 and his feet like unto fine brass tempered in the forge; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

1.16 He was holding in his right hand seven stars, and from his mouth a sharp two-edged sword was protruding. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.

1.17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a corpse. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid; I’m the first and the last,

1.18 “the one who lives! I was put to death, and here I am,living into the eons of eons. I hold the keys of death, and of Hades!

1.19 “Write down, then, what you will have seen, both what is and what’s going to be thereafter.

1.20 “The mystic truth about the seven stars you saw in my right hand, and the seven lampstands of gold: the seven stars are angels of the seven assemblies, and thelampstands are the seven assemblies.

2.1 “To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus, write: These are the words of the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks amid the seven lampstands of gold:

2.2 “I know of your works, your trouble, your patience, and the fact that you’renot able to tolerate evil men. You tested those who claimed to be apostlesand weren’t, and you found that they were liars.

2.3 “You’ve shown patience, too, and have carried burdens for my name’s sake, tirelessly.

2.4 “But I hold it against you that you’ve let go of the love you first had.2.5 “Recall, then, what you’ve fallen from. Repent, and do the works you first

did; otherwise, I’m coming to you, and I’ll take your lampstand away fromits place if you don’t repent!

2.6 “But you do have this in your favor, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, and I hate them too.

2.7 “If you have an ear, listen to what the spirit says to the assemblies! If you overcome, I’ll let you eat of the tree of life that stands in God’s garden.

2.8 “To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna, write: These are the words of the first and the last, who was put to death and lived:

2.9 “I know your affliction and your poverty — yet you’re rich! — and I know the blasphemy from the mouths of those who say they are Jews — yet they’re not! They’re Satan’s synagogue!

2.10 “Have no fear of what you’re about to undergo. Look, the devil’s going to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested; you’ll have ten days of affliction. Be faithful even up to death, and I’ll give you the crown of life.

2.11 “If you have an ear, listen to what the spirit says to the assemblies! If you overcome, there’s no way you can be harmed by the Second Death.

2.12 “To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum, write: These are the words of the one who holds the sharp double-edged sword:

2.13 “I know where you live: though Satan has his throne there, you hold fast to my name; you wouldn’t deny my faith, even in the days of my witness Antipas, who was slain where you live, where Satan dwells.

2.14 “Yet I hold a few things against you: the fact that you harbor there those who embrace the teaching of Balaam, who used to teach Balak how to throw a stumbling-block before the children of Israel — to eat the meat sacrificed to idols, and to be unfaithful.

2.15 “Likewise, you too harbor those who embrace the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

2.16 “Repent, then! Otherwise, I’m coming to you swiftly! I’ll make war on them with my mouth’s sword!

2.17 “If you have an ear, listen to what the spirit says to the assemblies! If you overcome, I’ll give you to eat of the manna in the tabernacle, and I’ll give you a white stone, and written on the stone is a new name, a name that no one knows except you who receive it.

2.18 “To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira, write: These are the words of the Son of God, he whose eyes are like bursts of flame, and whose feet look like the brass of Lebanon:

2.19 “I know your works, your love, your faith, your service, and your endurance; I know your last works are more than your first works.

2.20 “But I hold against you that you tolerate that woman Jezabel, who calls herself a prophet, and teaches and beguiles my slaves into unfaithfulness, into eating the meat sacrificed to idols.

2.21 “I even gave her time to repent, and she’s not willing to repent of her unfaithfulness.

2.22 “I’ll put her to bed, all right, and the adulterous ones with her I’ll also put to great pain, unless they repent of her works!

2.23 “Her offspring, too, I’ll slay with death. All the assemblies will come to know that I’m the one who searches your kidneys and hearts, and I’ll give to each of you according to your works.

2.24 “To you, the rest in Thyatira who don’t hold this doctrine, who are not acquainted with Satan’s ‘depths,’ as they call them, I won’t cast another burden upon you,

2.25 “except to tell you to hold on to what you have until I get there.2.26 “To the one who overcomes, to the one who minds my works to the end,

to that one will I give authority over the Gentiles,2.27 “ ‘And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter

shall they be broken to shivers,’2.28 “— that’s what I’ve been given by my father; and to that one I will give

also the morning star.2.29 “If you have an ear, listen to what the spirit says to

the assemblies!

3.1 “To the angel of the assembly in Sardis, write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know your works; you wear the name that says you’re alive, though you’re dead.

3.2 “Wake yourself up and prop up the remaining things that are about to dieout! I’ve found that your works have not been finished in the sight of my God.

3.3 “Recall, then, how you got them and how you understood them, and take care of them. Repent! Otherwise, if you don’t wake up, I’ll come like a thief, and there’s no way you can know the hour I’ll come upon you!

3.4 “You do, however, have a few persons in Sardis who haven’t muddied their clothing: they’ll walk with me in white clothes, because they’re worthy.

3.5 “The one who overcomes will be wrapped that way, in white clothing. There’s no way I’ll erase that one’s name from the scroll of life. I’ll confirm that name in the presence of my father and in the presence of his angels.

3.6 “If you have an ear, listen to what the spirit says to the assemblies!

3.7 “To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia, write: These are the words of the one who is holy and true, the one who holds ‘the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth’ — and shuts, andno man opens.

3.8 “I know your works — and you know I’ve put before you a door that’s open, a door that no one can close! —, I know you’re not strong in number, I know you’ve kept my word and not denied my name.

3.9 “Look what I’m granting: I’ll make those men from Satan’s synagogue — they say they’re Jews but they’re lying, they’re not — look, I’ll make them come to you and grovel before your feet, and recognize that it’s you I’ve loved.

3.10 “I know you minded the message of my endurance, so I’m going to mind you, beginning from the time of trial that’s about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on earth.

3.11 “I’m coming soon. Hold on to what you have; don’t let anyone take the crown away from you.

3.12 “The one who overcomes — I’ll make him a pillar in the temple of my God;nevermore will he go away. I’ll write on him the name of my God, the name of my God’s city — the new Jerusalem that’s coming down from heaven, from my God — and my own new name!

3.13 “If you have an ear, listen to what the spirit says to the assemblies!

3.14 “To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea, write: These are the words of the Amen, witness trustworthy and true, the first of God’s creation:

3.15 “I know your works, and you’re neither cold nor hot. If only you were cold, or hot!

3.16 “Since you’re the way you are — lukewarm and neither hot nor cold — I’mon the point of vomiting you out of my mouth.

3.17 “Because you say ‘I’m rich, I made myself rich, I don’t need anything,’ and you don’t realize that you’re miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked,

3.18 “my advice to you is to buy from me gold just fired from the forge so that you’ll really be rich, and white clothing to wrap yourself in so that the shame of your nakedness doesn’t show; and to anoint your eyes with salve so that you can see.

3.19 “I’m one who examines and chastises those he loves, so get out there nowand change your ways!

3.20 “Look, I’m standing at the door and knocking! If you hear my voice and open the door, I’ll come in to you and dine with you, and you with me.

3.21 “The one who overcomes — him I’ll give a seat with me on my throne, justas I’ve overcome, and have had a seat by my father on his throne.

3.22 “If you have an ear, listen to what the spirit says to the assemblies!”

4.1 After all that, I looked and, lo and behold, there was a door that had been opened in the sky, and there was that first voice that I’d been hearing, speaking to me like a trumpet, saying, “Go on up there and I’ll show you what’s supposed to happen hereafter!”

4.2 Immediately I was put in the spirit. Look, there stooda throne in heaven, and one sitting on the throne,

4.3 and he that was seated there was the same in appearanceas jasper with carnelian. A rainbow encircled the throne, the same in appearance as an emerald.

4.4 Around that throne are twenty-four thrones, and on those thrones sit twenty-four elders wrapped in white clothing, and on their heads are golden crowns.

4.5 Bolts of lightning, voices, and thunderclaps are comingforth from the throne, and seven fiery torches are burning before the throne; those are the seven spiritsof God.

4.6 Before the throne is something like a sea of glass, like a frozen sea. Midway between the throne and what encircles the throne are four living beings, full of eyes fore and aft:

4.7 the first living being is like a lion, and the second like a calf, and the third has a face as a man, and the fourth is like an eagle in flight.

4.8 And the four living beings, each one of them having sixwings apiece, are full of eyes all around and within the wings. The beings never stop day and night saying,“Holy, holy, holy Lord God almighty, who was and who is and who’s coming!”

4.9 Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one seated upon the throne, to the one who lives into the eons of eons,

4.10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before the one seated on the throne, and will adore the one who lives into the eons of eons, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

4.11 You are worthy, our Lord and our God, to receive glory,honor, and power, because you established all things, and because of your will everything existed and was established!

5.1 At the right hand of the one seated on the throne I sawa scroll that had been inscribed front and back, and sealed with seven seals,

5.2 and I saw a mighty angel announcing in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break its seals and read the scroll?”

5.3 No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and look at it!

5.4 I was weeping bitterly because no one had been found worthy to open the scroll and look at it.

5.5 One of the elders then says to me, “Don’t weep! Look, the lion from the tribe of Judah, the stock of David, has won the right to open the scroll and its seven seals!”

5.6 Then I saw, standing between the throne and the four living beings and the elders, a lamb that seemed to have been slain. It had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the land,

5.7 and it had gone and taken from the right hand of the one seated on the throne.

5.8 At the moment when it took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell before the lamb.Each one held a lyre and golden incense bowls (those are the prayers of the holy ones),

5.9 and they sing a new song that says, You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slain, and thus redeemed for God, through your blood, people of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation,

5.10 and you made them, for our God, a kingdom with priests, and they rule over the land.

5.11 Then I saw, and heard the voice of, many angels who encircled the throne and the living beings and the elders. Their number was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.

5.12 In a loud voice they were singing, The slain lamb is worthy toreceive the power, and wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!

5.13 Then I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth and on the sea, and all creatures within them, saying, To the one seated on the throne, and to the lamb, be blessing, honor, glory, and domination into the eons of eons.

5.14 And the four living beings answered, Amen! Then the elders fell down and worshipped.

6.1 I watched while the lamb opened one of the seven seals,and I heard one of the four living beings speak, in a thunderous voice, the word “Come!”

6.2 I watched, and suddenly there was a white horse! Its rider was holding a bow, and his gift was a crown, for he had emerged as a conqueror that was going to conquer.

6.3 When the lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second being speak the word “Come!”

6.4 Another horse emerged, fiery red, and the gift to its rider was to take peace away from the land, and for mento slaughter each other, and a huge sword was given to him.

6.5 When the lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third being speak the word “Come!” I watched, and suddenly there was a black horse! Its rider was holding a balance in his hand,

6.6 and I heard what sounded like a voice in the midst of the four living beings saying, “A quart of wheat and three quarts of barley for a denarius! And be careful with the oil and the wine!”

6.7 When the lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voiceof the fourth being speak the word “Come!”

6.8 I watched, and suddenly there was a pale green horse, with a rider upon it with the name of Death, and Hades

was following along with him. To them was given authority over a fourth of the land, for killing with the sword, with famine, and with death even by the wildbeasts of the land.

6.9 When the lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slain for the word of God and for the testimony that they used to bear.

6.10 They shouted in a loud voice, “How long, Master holy and true, before you render judgment and exact vengeance for our blood from those earth-dwellers?”

6.11 To each of them was given a white robe, and they were promised that they would have peace in a short time yet, waiting only while their fellow slaves and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed, completed the course just as they had.

6.12 I watched when the lamb opened the sixth seal. There came a great quaking, the sun turned black as hairy sackcloth, the whole moon became a clot of blood,

6.13 the stars of heaven fell to earth, just as the wild figthrows its fruit when shaken by a high wind,

6.14 the sky was put away like a rolled-up scroll, and everyhill, every island was moved off its base.

6.15 Then the kings of the earth, the grandees, the garrisoncommanders, the rich and the powerful, and all people, slave and free, hid themselves in caves and mountain crags,

6.16 And said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from theface of the one sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb,

6.17 “because the great Day of their wrath has come, and whois able to stand?”

7.1 After that I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds from the earth, so that no wind might blow on land or sea oron any tree.

7.2 I watched another angel going up from the rising of thesun, holding the seal of the living God, and he shouted

in a loud voice to the four angels to whom it had been granted to injure the land and the sea,

7.3 saying, “Don’t injure the land or the sea or the forestuntil we have sealed our God’s slaves, on their foreheads!”

7.4 I heard the number of those who had been sealed — a hundred forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the children of Israel.

7.5 From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed; from the tribe of Ruben, twelve thousand; from the tribe ofGad, twelve thousand;

7.6 from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand; from the tribe of Nephthalim, twelve thousand; from the tribe of Manasses, twelve thousand;

7.7 from the tribe of Symeon, twelve thousand; from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand; from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand;

7.8 from the tribe of Zebulon, twelve thousand; from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand; and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand sealed.

7.9 After that I saw that suddenly there was a huge crowd —no one could count their number — from every nation, and all tribes, peoples, and tongues, all standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in whiterobes, with palm leaves in their hands.

7.10 They shouted in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to ourGod, seated on the throne, and to the lamb!”

7.11 All the angels were standing in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings, and they fell on their faces before the throne and adored God,

7.12 saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and strength be to our God into the eons of eons! Amen!”

7.13 One of the elders responded by asking me, “Those peoplewearing white robes, do you know who they are and wherethey come from?”

7.14 My answer to him: “Sir, it is you who know!” He told me, “They are the ones who come from the Great

Oppression! They’ve washed their robes, and made them white, in the blood of the lamb.

7.15 “This is why they are here before the throne of God; they serve him day and night in his temple, and the onewho sits on the throne will pitch his tent over them.

7.16 “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

7.17 “Because the lamb in front of the throne will shepherd them; He will guide them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

8.1 When the lamb opened the seventh seal, there came silence in heaven for close to half an hour.

8.2 Then I watched the seven angels who stood before God, as they were given seven trumpets.

8.3 Another angel came and stood over the altar holding a golden incense-burner; he was given a great deal of incense to accompany the prayers of all the holy ones at the golden altar before the throne,

8.4 and from the hand of the angel there rose before God the smoke of incense for the prayers of the holy ones.

8.5 Now the angel has taken the censer, filled it with the altar’s fire, and has cast it upon the earth! The result: thunder, voices, flashes, quaking.

8.6 The seven angels with the seven trumpets then prepared themselves to trumpet.

8.7 The first trumpeted. There came hailstones and fire mixed in blood, all cast upon the earth! A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the forests were burned, every green pasture was burned.

8.8 The second angel trumpeted. Something like a huge mountain on fire was hurled into the sea, and a third of the sea turned into blood.

8.9 A third of the creatures planted in the sea perished — those that had had life — and a third of the ships weredestroyed.

8.10 The third angel trumpeted. There fell from heaven a great star, burning like a lamp! It fell upon a third of the rivers, even upon the sources of their waters.

8.11 The name of the star is Absinthe: a third of the waters turned into absinthe, and many people died from the waters because they had turned so harsh.

8.12 The fourth angel trumpeted. A third of the sun was impacted, as was a third of the moon, and a third of the stars: a third of them fell dark, and a third of the day disappeared, as did a third of the night.

8.13 I looked and I heard the voice of a lone eagle as it flew at the top of the sky, saying, “Woe, woe, woe is coming to the settlers on the land from the remaining trumpet-soundings of the three angels, and they’re about to trumpet!”

9.1 The fifth angel trumpeted. I watched the star that hadfallen from heaven onto the earth, and it was given thekey to the well of the abyss.

9.2 It opened the well of the abyss, and from the well camesmoke like smoke from a big chimney. The sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the well.

9.3 Out of the smoke came locusts onto the land, and they were given the same potency as land-scorpions have.

9.4 They were told not to injure any pasturage or green space or tree, but only the humans who don’t have God’sseal on their foreheads.

9.5 It was granted to them not to kill people, but for people to be tormented for five months. Their torment will be like torment from a scorpion when it bites you.

9.6 In those times the humans will seek death without ever finding it; they’ll yearn to die, and death goes on eluding them!

9.7 What did the locusts look like? They were the same as horses geared for war; on their heads were something like golden wreaths; their faces resembled human faces;

9.8 they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were likelions’ teeth;

9.9 they had breastplates like iron breastplates; and the noise of their wings was like the noise of the chariotsof many horses galloping into battle.

9.10 They have tails with stings like scorpions; in those tails of theirs is their power to injure people for five months.

9.11 They have over them as king the Angel of the Abyss. InHebrew his name is Abbadon; in the Greek tongue, he has the name Apollyon, the Destroyer.

9.12 The one woe is over. Now come two more woes after that!

9.13 The sixth angel trumpeted. I heard a solitary voice coming from among the horns projecting from the golden altar that stood before God,

9.14 and it said to the sixth angel, “You with the trumpet: unleash the four angels that are bound at the great River Euphrates!”

9.15 The four angels were then unleashed, the angels who hadbeen made ready for the hour, the day, the month, the year when they would kill a third of mankind.

9.16 The number of cavalry troops was two hundred million (Iheard their number myself).

9.17 This is how I saw the horses in my vision, and their riders: their breastplates are fiery red, blue, and yellow; the horses’ heads are like lions’ heads; out of their mouths come fire, smoke, and brimstone,

9.18 and from those three plagues a third of mankind was exterminated, from the fire, the smoke, and the brimstone coming out of the horses’ mouths.

9.19 You see, the horses’ power is in their mouths — and also in their tails, because their tails are like snakes with heads, and it’s with those heads that they injure!

9.20 The rest of the people that weren’t killed by those plagues didn’t even repent of their own handiwork to the point of not groveling before godlets and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood — things that can’t see, hear, or walk —

9.21 and they didn’t repent of their murders, black magic, promiscuity, or thievery.

10.1 Then I saw another mighty angel going down from heaven,wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow upon his head. His face was like the sun and his legs were like pillars offire.

10.2 In his hand he was holding a little scroll that had been unrolled. He put his right foot on the sea, and his left on the land,

10.3 and shouted in a loud voice like a lion’s roar. When he shouted, the seven thunders spoke in their own voices.

10.4 When the seven thunders spoke, I got ready to write. At that point, I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders say! Don’t write it down!”

10.5 Then the angel whom I saw standing on sea and land lifted his right hand to heaven

10.6 and swore on the one who lives into the eons of eons, who established heaven and everything in it, and earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it,that time would be finished,

10.7 but that in the days of the sound of the seventh angel — the days when he’s going to trumpet — God’s mystery would also have been fulfilled, as he’d announced to his slaves the prophets, in glad tidings.

10.8 Then came the voice from heaven that I’d heard, speaking again with me and saying, “Come on, take the scroll that’s open in the hand of the angel that’s standing on sea and land.”

10.9 I went over to the angel telling him to give me the little scroll. He tells me, “Take it and eat it up! It will curdle your guts, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

10.10 I took the little scroll out of the angel’s hand and ate it up. Indeed it was sweet as honey in my mouth; and when I’d eaten it, my guts were curdled!

10.11 Voices tell me then, “It’s now your duty to prophesy concerning a multitude of peoples, nations, tongues, kings!”

11.1 I was given a reed as a measuring-stick, and he says, “Get up and measure God’s temple, and the altar, and those worshipping in the temple.

11.2 “Don’t include the outer court of the temple; don’t measure it, because it was given to the Gentiles. They’ll trample the holy city for forty-two months.

11.3 “I’ll grant to my two witnesses to prophesy two thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.

11.4 “They are the two olive trees, the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the land.

11.5 “If anyone intends to do them injury, fire is emitted from their mouth and it devours their enemies. If anyone even dreams of doing them injury, that’s the wayhe has to be killed.

11.6 “Those witnesses have authority to shut down the sky sothat no rain falls for the duration of their prophecy, and they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the land with every sort of blow, as often as they wish.

11.7 “When they finish their period of testimony, the beast that climbs out of the abyss will make war on them, anddefeat them, and kill them.

11.8 “Their remains are on the main street of the city that is great, whose spiritual name is both Sodom and Egypt,where their master, too, was crucified.

11.9 “Those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations look upon their remains for three and a half days, and they don’t let their remains be placed in a tomb.

11.10 “The settlers on the land are rejoicing over them and making merry. They’re sending gifts to one another; after all, those two prophets had tormented the settlers on the land.”

11.11 After the three and a half days, a breath of life from God came into them, and they stood up on their ownfeet! A great fear fell upon those who beheld them.

11.12 Then they heard a great voice from heaven telling them, “Come up here!” They rose into the sky in a cloud; even their enemies witnessed them doing so.

11.13 At that time there was a great earthquake. A tenth of the city fell down, and seven thousand names of people perished in the earthquake. The rest were gripped with fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

11.14 The second woe had passed; look out, the third woe is coming soon!

11.15 The seventh angel blew his trumpet. Loud voices arose in the sky saying, “The earthly kingdom of our Lord and of his Anointed One has come, and he will reign into the eons of eons!”

11.16 Then the twenty-four elders, they who sat on theirthrones in the presence of God, fell on their faces andworshipped God,

11.17 saying, We give thanks to you, Lord God omnipotent, you who are and who were, because you’ve assumed your power, your great powerand your kingship!

11.18 The gentiles have been provoked, and your Wrath has come. It’s the time for the dead to be judged. It’s the time to give recompense to your slaves, the prophets and the holy ones and those who stand in fear ofyour name, the small and the great. It’s the time to ruin those who ruin the land!

11.19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and in histemple was seen the ark of his covenant! There came lightning, voices, thunder, quaking, and a great hailstorm.

12.1 A great sign was then seen in the sky: a woman clothedin the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

12.2 She’s pregnant and crying out in the agony and torment of her labor.

12.3 Another great sign was seen in the sky: here comes a huge flame-colored serpent with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads are seven diadems.

12.4 Its tail sweeps away a third of the stars in the sky; it has hurled them onto the earth. Now the serpent gets in front of the woman about to give birth, so thatit may devour her child when she bears it.

12.5 And she bore a child, a male, who is going to herd all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was snatched up to God and to his throne,

12.6 while the woman fled to the wilderness, where she has aspot prepared by agents from God to maintain her there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days.

12.7 Then war was made in heaven, Michael and his angels doing battle with the serpent’s side. The serpent madewar, and its angels too.

12.8 It did not prevail, and their place in heaven was no longer to be found.

12.9 The great serpent was cast out, the ancient snake called “Devil” and “Satan,” the one who deceives all ofcivilization — it was cast onto the earth, and its angels were cast out with it.

12.10 I heard a voice then, a loud voice in the sky saying, Now has come the salvation, the power, the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Anointed One, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who denounces them before our God, day and night, has been cast out!

12.11 They have conquered him through the blood of the lamb, and through the word of their testimony. They did not love their life, they wentall the way to death!

12.12 Be glad of that, you heavens and you who dwell in the heavens! Woe to you, land and sea, because the devil’s come down to you in high dudgeon: he knows he has so little time!

12.13 When the serpent saw that it had been cast upon the earth, it went after the woman who’d given birth tothe male child.

12.14 Now, the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman so that she can fly to the wilderness, to her spot where she’s being maintained for a year, and two years, and half a year — there, away from the face of the snake.

12.15 Out of its mouth the serpent then cast water, amounting to a river of water, to go after the woman and have her carried away in its flood.

12.16 At that point the earth helped the woman: the earth opened its mouth and drank down the river that the serpent had cast out of its mouth.

12.17 Furious with the woman, the serpent went off to make war on the rest of her offspring who were keeping the commandments of God and holding on to the testimonyof Jesus.

12.18 The serpent took up a position on the seashore.

13.1 I then saw a beast rising out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. Upon its horns were ten diadems, and upon its heads was a blasphemous name.

13.2 This beast that I saw looked like a leopard; its feet were like the claws of a bear, and its mouth was like the jaws of a lion. The serpent gave its own power, its throne, and its immense authority to the beast.

13.3 I saw that one of the beast’s heads looked mortally wounded, but its fatal wound had been healed. All the land looked in wonder as the beast passed,

13.4 and worshipped the serpent for having given authority to the beast. They worshipped the beast, too, saying, “Who can match the beast? Who can do battle with him?”

13.5 The beast was given a mouth for talking of grandiose and blasphemous things, and it was given the right to do that for forty-two months.

13.6 It opened its mouth for blasphemy against God, for blaspheming his name and his tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven.

13.7 It was permitted to make war on the holy ones, and to vanquish them. It was given authority over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation.

13.8 All the settlers on the land will worship it, all but those whose names have been inscribed in the lamb’s book of life, the lamb who has been a sacrifice since the foundation of the world.

13.9 If you have an ear, listen:13.10 If you’re to go into captivity, you go into

captivity. If you’re to be killed with the sword, you

have to be killed with the sword; that’s the enduranceand faith of the holy ones!

13.11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, and it talked like a serpent.

13.12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in the presence of the first beast. It causes the landand its settlers to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound has been healed.

13.13 It performs great miracles, so as to make even fire come down from the sky before people’s eyes!

13.14 It leads astray the settlers on the land through the miracles it’s been granted to perform in the presence of the first beast. It tells the settlers on the land to make a statue to that beast who has the sword-wound and is yet alive.

13.15 It’s been permitted to give breath to the statue of the first beast, so that the statue of the beast caneven speak and cause to be killed whoever doesn’t worship the statue of the beast.

13.16 The second beast makes them give everyone — lowly and great, rich and poor, free and slave — a mark on their hand or on their forehead,

13.17 and sees to it that no one can buy or sell withouthaving the mark, either the name of the beast or the numerical value of its name.

13.18 (Here is the secret: let anyone with common sensefigure out the number of the beast; it’s a human’s number. The beast’s number is six hundred sixty-six!)

14.1 I looked, and there was the lamb, standing on Mount Zion! With him were a hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his father’s name written on their foreheads.

14.2 I heard a sound out of the sky like the sound of many waters or the sound of loud thunder, and the next soundI heard was like the sound of many harpists harping on their harps:

14.3 they’re singing a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one’s been able to learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who’ve been redeemed from the earth.

14.4 They are the ones who haven’t been defiled by being with women; they are virgins. They are the ones who follow the lamb wherever he goes. They’ve been purchased as first-fruits from the human race, offered to God and to the lamb,

14.5 and in their mouth no lie is to be found; they are faultless.

14.6 I then saw another angel flying up in the sky overhead bearing the gospel of the coming eon to announce to thesettlers on the land, and to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people,

14.7 saying in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come! Worship himwho has created heaven, earth, sea and all sources of water!”

14.8 A second angel followed, saying, “She has fallen, Babylon the great has fallen, she who has made all nations drink of the wine made from the fury of her unfaithfulness!”

14.9 Then another angel, the third, followed them, loudly proclaiming, “If anyone worships the beast and its statue and receives its mark upon his forehead or on his hand,

14.10 “that same person will drink of the wine made fromthe fury of God, poured unmixed into the cup of his Wrath. He will be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels, and before the lamb!”

14.11 The smoke of their torment goes up into the eons of eons. They have no rest day or night, those who groveled before the beast and its statue, and anyone who received the mark of its name.

14.12 That’s why the holy ones manage to endure, those who keep the commandments of God and the Faith of Jesus.

14.13 Then I heard a voice out of heaven saying, “Write:Blessed are the dead who from now on are dying in the Lord — ‘Yes,’ says the spirit, ‘so that they find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them!’ ”

14.14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud! I sawseated on the cloud one who looked like a Son of Man, wearing on his head a golden crown, and with a sharp scythe in his hand.

14.15 Another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Let looseyour scythe and mow, because harvest time is here, because the harvest of the land is dried!”

14.16 The one seated on the cloud hurled his scythe ontothe land, and the earth was mowed.

14.17 Another angel came out of the heavenly temple, himself also holding a sharp scythe.

14.18 Yet another angel came from the altar with authority over fire, and called in a loud voice to the one holding the scythe: “Let loose your sharp scythe and gather in the grapes from the vineyard of the land,because its clusters are ripe!”

14.19 The angel hurled his scythe onto the land, and stripped the vineyard of the land, then hurled the grapes into the great vat of God’s fury.

14.20 The vat was then trodden outside the city. Blood came out of the vat up to the bridles of horses, as faraway as two hundred miles!

15.1 Then I saw another sign in the sky, a great and amazingsign: seven angels with seven final plagues — final, because with those plagues the fury of God is over.

15.2 I then saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and I saw those who were victorious over the beast and its statue, and over the number of the beast’s name, standing by the shore of the sea of glassholding God’s harps.

15.3 They sing the song of Moses, slave of God; they sing the song of the lamb: Great and amazing are your works, Lord God almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations!

15.4 Who, Lord, may not fear you and who will not praise your name? For you alone are holy; all nations will come and fall down before you, because your code of justice has been manifested to all!

15.5 Thereupon I watched as the heavenly temple of the tabernacle of witness was opened.

15.6 The seven angels with seven plagues emerged from the temple, dressed in pure shining linen and girded aroundtheir chests with golden sashes.

15.7 One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the fury of the God who lives into the eons of eons.

15.8 The temple was filled with the smoke that arose from God’s glory and power; no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels wereover.

16.1 I then heard a loud voice from the temple that said to the seven angels, “Go and empty the seven bowls of God’s fury onto the earth!”

16.2 The first angel went off and emptied his bowl over the land, and a painful, nasty ulcer broke out on people who had the sign of the beast, and who worshipped his statue.

16.3 The second angel emptied his bowl onto the sea, and it turned into something like the blood of a corpse. Every living thing that was in the sea died.

16.4 The third angel emptied his bowl into rivers and water sources, and they turned into blood.

16.5 I heard that angel of the waters say, “You are just, you who are and who were, you holy one, because you gave this judgment:

16.6 “they shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you’vegiven them blood to drink. They deserve it!”

16.7 And I heard the altar say, “Yes, Lord God almighty, your judgments are true and just!”

16.8 The fourth angel emptied his bowl over the sun, which allowed the sun to scorch mankind with fire.

16.9 People were scorched with a great scorching. They blasphemed the name of God — of him who had power over

these plagues! — and didn’t repent so as to give glory to him.

16.10 The fifth angel emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People bit their tongues in pain

16.11 and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their painsand sores, but didn’t repent of their works.

16.12 The sixth angel emptied his bowl into the great River Euphrates. Its water was dried up so as to prepare theway of the kings who come from the rising sun.

16.13 Then I saw, jumping from the mouth of the serpent, fromthe mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the falseprophet, three unholy spirits like frogs!

16.14 They are the spirits of demons, spirits who work miracles, spirits who go forth upon the kings of the whole civilized world in order to gather them for the war of the great Day, the Day of almighty God.

16.15 Look out! I’m coming like a thief. Lucky is the one who keeps watch, who keeps his clothes on so that he won’t go around naked and be letting themsee his shame!

16.16 The demons gathered them into the place called, in Hebrew, Armageddon.

16.17 The seventh angel emptied his bowl into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, andsaid, “It has been done!”

16.18 Lightning, noise, and thunder arose. A huge earthquakethen occurred. Such an earthquake, massive as it was, hadn’t happened since the time of the first human on earth.

16.19 The great city came apart three ways. The Gentiles’ cities fell, as well. And full before the mind of God was Babylon the great — to give to her the winecup of the fury of his Wrath!

16.20 Every island disappeared, and mountains were nowhere tobe found.

16.21 Huge hailstones that seemed to weigh a talent each fellfrom the sky upon mankind. And what came of the plagueof hail? People blasphemed God, claiming this plague of hailstones was “too great”!

17.1 One of the seven angels with the seven bowls then came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I’ll show you the punishment of the great whore who sits on many waters,

17.2 “with whom the kings of the earth practiced infidelity,while the settlers on the land got drunk on the wine ofher unfaithfulness.”

17.3 He took me off, in the spirit, to the wilderness, and Isaw a woman mounted on a red beast that was full of names of blasphemy, and that had seven heads and ten horns.

17.4 The woman was clothed in purple and red, and gilded with gold, precious stone, and pearls; she held in herhand a golden chalice full of the abominations and filth of her whoredom.

17.5 Upon her forehead was inscribed a name, a mystic title:Babylon the great, mother of whores and of the abominations of the earth.

17.6 I watched the woman getting drunk on the blood of the holy ones, and on the blood of Jesus’ witnesses. Seeing her, I marveled at this great marvel.

17.7 Then the angel asked me, “What’s to find marvelous? I myself am about to explain to you the mystic significance of the woman and of the beast that bears her, the beast with seven heads and ten horns.

17.8 “The beast you saw used to be. It’s not now. But it’sgoing to come up again from the abyss. Its destinationis ruination! The settlers on the land will be astounded — those, that is, whose names haven’t been written on the scroll of life from the first foundationof the world — when they see that the beast used to be,and is not now, and will be back!

17.9 “Here’s the meaning that makes sense: the seven heads are seven hills on which the woman is sitting. And there are seven kings:

17.10 “five of them have fallen, one is alive, another hasn’tyet come, and when he does come, he’s supposed to stay only a bit.

17.11 “The beast that used to be and isn’t now is himself theeighth and at the same time is one of the seven kings. His destination is ruination.

17.12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who haven’t yet received their kingdom, but they’re getting authority as kings for a single hour in concert with the beast.

17.13 “Those kings are of one mind: they give their power and authority to the beast.

17.14 “They’ll fight a war with the lamb, and the lamb will conquer them, because the lamb is Lord of lords and King of kings; those on his side are summoned, selected, faithful.”

17.15 The angel goes on to tell me, “The waters you saw, where the whore is sitting, are the peoples, the masses, the nations, the tongues!

17.16 “The ten horns you saw, and the beast — they will hate the whore, they’ll make her deserted and naked, they’lleat her shredded flesh and burn her down with fire!

17.17 God, you see, put it into their hearts to accomplish his plan, to be of one mind, and to give their kingshipto the beast, until God’s words should be fulfilled.

17.18 The woman you saw is the city that is great, the city that holds sway over the kings of the earth!

18.1 I next saw another angel descending from heaven, and heheld great authority. The earth was lit up with his glory!

18.2 In a mighty voice he shouted, “It has fallen, Babylon the great has fallen! It has become the haunt of phantoms and dungeon of every unclean spirit — dungeon of every unclean and hated fowl —

18.3 “because she made all nations drink from [some early MSS: because all nations have drunk from; other earlyMSS: because all nations have fallen by] the wine of the fury of her infidelity, and the kings of the earth have been unfaithful with her, and the merchants of theearth have grown rich from the power of her wantonness.

18.4 Then I heard another voice from the sky saying, “Get out of her, my people, so that you don’t share in her sins or catch one of her plagues!

18.5 “The fact is, the pile of her sins has reached the sky,and God has kept her injustices in mind.

18.6 “Give her back as she’s given out; repay her twofold to match what she’s done! In the chalice she once mixed, give her a double mix!

18.7 “As much as she exalted herself and caroused, give her the same amount of torment and grief, because in her heart she’s now saying, ‘Here I sit, a queen, and I’m no widow; there’s no way I’ll see grief!’

18.8 “That’s why her plagues — death and grief and famine — will be here on a single day, and she’ll be burned downin a fire, all because the Lord God who judged her is mighty.

18.9 “The kings of the earth who were unfaithful with her and who caroused with her will wail and smite themselves over her when they see the smoke of her incineration,

18.10 “as they stand at a distance, for fear of her torment, and they’ll say, Woe, woe, the city that was great, Babylon the city that was mighty — in a single hour came your condemnation!

18.11 “The merchants of the earth are wailing and sorrowing over her because no one buys their cargo any more,

18.12 “their cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, every kind of cypress wood, all ivory goods, all goods made from the most precious wood, and from bronze, iron, andmarble;

18.13 “cinnamon, amomum, scents, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, wheat flour, grain, beasts of burden, and sheep; and their cargo of horses and chariots and bodies and souls of humans!

18.14 “You didn’t get to reap the harvest of your heart’s desire, you lost all those bright, shiny things, they’re no more to be found.

18.15 “The men who trafficked in them and grew rich on her will stand (at a distance, for fear of her torment) wailing and sorrowing,

18.16 “and they’ll say, Woe, woe, the city that was great, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls —

18.17 “such great wealth was wiped out in a single hour! Every ship captain, anyone bound for ports-of-call, sailors — all who work the sea stood at a distance

18.18 “and kept crying out, as they watched the smoke of her incineration, ‘Who was the equal of the great city?’

18.19 “And they threw dirt on their heads and kept crying out, wailing and sorrowing and saying, Woe, woe, the city that was great, the city in which all who had ships in the sea grew rich from her luxuries — in a single hour she was wiped out!

18.20 “Gloat over her, O heaven, holy ones, apostles, prophets! God’s judgment has exacted from her the penalty owed to you!”

18.21 One mighty angel then lifted up a rock the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea with the words, “With a sudden thrust like this will the great city of Babylon be thrown down, and will no more be found!

18.22 “The sound of people singing to the cithara and playingmusic, the sound of flautists and trumpeters, will no more be heard in you. No more will anyone who practices any art be found in you. The grinding of themillstone will no more be heard in you.

18.23 “Lamplight will no longer shine in you, and the voice of the groom and his bride will no more be heard in you. Why is all this no more? Because it was your merchants who were the grandees of the earth. Because all nations were deluded by your potion, in which was to be found the blood of prophets, the blood of saints,the blood of everyone on earth who’s been martyred!”

19.1 Next, I heard something like the loud voice of a huge crowd in the sky saying, Halleluia! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,

19.2 because his judgments are true and just, because he judged the great whore who was destroying the earth with her unfaithfulness, and exacted retribution from her hand for the blood of his slaves!

19.3 (And a second time they said, Halleluia! ) Her smoke is rising into the eons of eons!

19.4 The twenty-four elders and the four living beings fell down and worshipped God as he sat on the throne, saying, Amen! Halleluia!

19.5 Then a voice came from out of the throne, and it said, Praise our God, all his slaves who fear him, both small and great!

19.6 I heard then something like the noise of a huge crowd, like the noise of many waters, like the noise of mightythundering, and the words Halleluia! For the Lord God almighty has been our king.

19.7 Let’s be glad, let’s rejoice, let’s give him glory, because the wedding of the lamb is here, and his bride has made herself ready.

19.8 She’s been given pure, fine, shining linen to wear — fine linen is the justices of the holy ones.

19.9 The angel says to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the lamb! ” Then he says to me, “Those arethe true words of God!”

19.10 I fell before his feet to worship him. Then he says to me, “Careful! Don’t! I’m just your fellow slave, a slave of your brothers and sisters who bear witness to Jesus. Worship God! Bearing witness to Jesus is the essence of prophecy!”

19.11 Then I saw that the sky had opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider was being called “faithful” and “true.” In justice does he judge, in justice does he do battle.

19.12 His eyes are like jets of flame, and upon his headare many diadems. He keeps a name written down that noone knows except himself.

19.13 He’s clothed in an outer garment that’s been dipped in blood. His name, the name he’s called by, is“God’s Word.”

19.14 Following him on white horses were heavenly armiesdressed in pure white linen.

19.15 From his mouth protrudes a sharp broadsword with which to smite the nations; he’s the one who shall rule them with a rod of iron. He’s the one who treads the wine-trough of the fury of the wrath of almighty God!

19.16 On his outer garment, and on his thigh, is writtenthe name King of kings and Master of masters.

19.17 I then saw an angel standing inside the sun who shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying in the midst of the sky, “Come gather here for God’s great feast,

19.18 “and eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all, free and slave, small and great!”

19.19 Then I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies that had been gathered to make war on the mounted rider, and on his army.

19.20 The beast was seized, along with the false prophet with him who had performed miracles in front ofhim, miracles through which he deluded those who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshipped his statue. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns in brimstone.

19.21 The rest were slain with the rider’s broadsword that came out of his mouth. The birds all grew fat on their flesh!

20.1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

20.2 He seized the serpent, the ancient snake who’s the Devil and Satan, and bound it for a thousand years:

20.3 he threw it into the abyss, which he closed and sealed over the serpent so that it might no longer delude the nations — until the thousand years are over; afterward, the serpent must be let loose for a short time.

20.4 Then I saw some thrones, and people sitting on them. Judgment had been given to them. And I saw the souls of those beheaded for bearing witness to Jesus, and for

preaching the word of God. And I saw those who had notworshipped the beast or his statue, and had not received the mark on their forehead or hand. They lived and ruled with the Messiah King for a thousand years.

20.5 (The remainder of the dead did not live until the thousand years were up.) And that is the first resurrection.

20.6 Blessed and holy are the ones who have a part in the first resurrection! The second death has no sway over them, but they will be priests of God and of the anointed King, and will rule a thousand years with him.

20.7 When the thousand years are up, Satan will be turned loose from his prison.

20.8 He will come out to delude the nations in the four corners of the earth (Gog and Magog), to gather them for the war, their number being as many as the sands ofthe sea …

20.9 Their march covered the breadth of the land. They surrounded the camp of the holy ones, the beloved city.Then down from the sky came fire, and consumed them!

20.10 The Devil, who was deluding them, was thrown into the Lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were. Day and night will they be tormented, into the eons of eons!

20.11 I saw then a great white throne, and the one who was seated upon it — earth and heaven fled from his face; there was no place found for them!

20.12 Then I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before the throne. Their scrolls were opened,and another scroll, the scroll of life, was opened. The dead were judged from what had been written in their scrolls based on their works.

20.13 Then the sea gave up the dead in herself, while Death and Hades gave up the dead in themselves, and each dead person was judged based on his or her works.

20.14 Death and Hades were then thrown into the Lake of fire — that’s the second death, the Lake of fire:

20.15 anyone not written in the scroll of life was thrown into the Lake of fire!

21.1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth have gone, and the sea no longer exists.

21.2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming downfrom God out of the sky, prepared and adorned like a bride for her husband.

21.3 I then heard a loud voice out of the throne that said, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them,

21.4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, no more mourning or crying or pain: the former world is gone!

21.5 The one seated on the throne said, “Look, I make all things new!” (The angel says, “Write it down! Those words are trustworthy and true.”)

21.6 And to me the one on the throne said, “All has been accomplished! I am the alpha and the omega, the sourceand the fulfillment. I am the one who, as a gift to the thirsty, will give to drink from the spring of the water of life.

21.7 “The one who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

21.8 “But to the worthless, the unfaithful, the abominable, the murderers, the promiscuous, the spell-casters, the idolaters, and all tellers of falsehoods, their lot will be in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone:that is the second death!”

21.9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven final plagues, and he talked with me, saying, “Come on, I’ll show you the bride, the wife of the lamb!”

21.10 He carried me off in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem as itdescended from God out of the sky,

21.11 and she had the glory of God. Her radiance was that ofthe most precious stone, like jasper clear as crystal.

21.12 She had a great high wall with twelve gate-towers, and atop the gate-towers were twelve angels. The names inscribed there are those of the twelve sons of Israel —

21.13 three gate-towers on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.

21.14 The city wall has twelve foundation-stones, above whichare the twelve names of the lamb’s twelve apostles.

21.15 The angel who was talking with me had a golden measuring-rod to measure the city, its gate-towers, andits wall.

21.16 The city is square, its length being as much as its breadth. With the rod he measured the city at twelve thousand stades. Its length, width, and height are allthe same.

21.17 He measured its wall at a hundred and forty-four cubitsin human (in this case, angelic) measurement.

21.18 The wall itself is jasper. The city is of pure gold with a pure glossy surface.

21.19 The foundation-stones of the city wall are adorned withevery precious stone, the first with jasper, the secondwith sapphire, the third with chalcedony, the fourth with emerald,

21.20 the fifth with sardonyx, the sixth with carnelian, the seventh with topaz, the eighth with beryl, the ninth with chrysolite, the tenth with chrysoprase, the eleventh with aquamarine, and the twelfth with amethyst.

21.21 The twelve gate-towers were twelve pearl-stones, and each one of the gate-towers was made from a single pearl-stone. The broad way of the city is is of pure gold with a bright mirror surface.

21.22 I saw no temple in her. The Lord God almighty, along with the lamb, is her temple.

21.23 The city has no need of the sun or the moon to give herlight; the glory of God has illuminated her, and the lamb is her lamp.

21.24 What’s more, the nations will walk by her light, and the kings of the earth are to bring her their glory.

21.25 Her gates are never to be closed — during the day (after all, night won’t exist there)!

21.26 They’ll bring the glory and the honor of the nations toher,

21.27 and no one doing any vulgar, abominable, or false thingmay enter her — only those written on the lamb’s scrollof life!

22.1 The angel showed me the crystal-clear river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and the lamb.

22.2 In the space between the city’s broad way and the river, alongside both the river and the way, will grow the tree of life that produces twelve fruits, yielding its fruit according to each month, and the leaves of the tree will be for the healing of the nations.

22.3 No accursed thing will exist any more. The throne of God and of the lamb will be in the city, and his slaveswill serve him

22.4 and will see his face, and his name will be upon their foreheads.

22.5 There will be no more night, and people won’t need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will shine light upon them, and they will reign as kings into the eons of eons.

22.6 The angel then said to me, “These promises are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spiritsof the prophets, has sent his angel to show his slaves what has to happen soon!

22.7 “Look out, I’m coming soon! ” Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy in this scroll.

22.8 I, John, am the one who is hearing and seeing these things, and when I heard and saw, I fell to do worship before the feet of the angel who was showing me these things.

22.9 Then he says to me, “Careful! Don’t! I’m just your fellow slave, a slave of your brothers the prophets andthose who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”

22.10 Then he tells me, “Don’t seal the words of the prophecy in this scroll, for the time is near.

22.11 “Let the wrongdoer go on doing wrong; let the filthy one go on befouling himself; let the just man go on doing justice, and the saint go on being sanctified.”

22.12 Look out! I’m coming quickly! I have the wages with me to pay out to each in keeping with his work.

22.13 I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the source and the fulfillment!

22.14 Blessed are they who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter into the city by its gates!

22.15 Outside are the dogs, the spell-casters, the promiscuous, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves lies and tells lies.

22.16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to bring testimony of these things to you at your assemblies. I am the root and the stock of David, I am the bright morning star!

22.17 And the spirit and the bride say the word “Come!” Let the one who hears say the word “Come!” And let thethirsty one come, let the one who’s willing take as a gift the water of life.

22.18 I myself testify to anyone who’s listening to the words of prophecy in this scroll: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add upon him the plagues that are described in the scroll.

22.19 And if anyone takes away anything from the words of the scroll of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life, and of the holy city, which are described in the scroll.

22.20 He who bears witness to all this says, Yes, I’m coming quickly! Amen! Come, Master Jesus!

22.21 May the grace of the Master Jesus be with all!