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 was 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 lies foursquare, 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.
The Book ofRevelation 21Chapter XXI 21
· 27 verses · 3 minute read
About this chapter
Revelation 21 — A New Heaven and New Earth
Revelation 21 stands as the final page of Scripture's grand narrative. John beholds "a new heaven and a new earth" (21:1)—the Greek kainos does not mean another creation, but rather a renewed and transformed one. The fallen creation of Genesis 3 is redeemed at last. The New Jerusalem descends "as a bride adorned for her husband"—an image that closes the cycle begun in Eden with humanity's first marriage. Verse 4 ranks among Scripture's most comforting words: "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Each word carries weight. Dakryon—tears themselves—God's own hand wipes away. Thanatos—death—shall exist no more. Penthos, krauge, and ponos—sorrow, crying, and pain—all cease forever. The description of this new city inverts the proportions of the Jerusalem temple: a cube measuring 1,400 miles on each side, walls of jasper, gates each fashioned from a single pearl, streets of transparent gold. Yet the most profound detail: "I saw no temple therein" (21:22)—for God and the Lamb themselves are the temple. Direct presence replaces all mediation. "There shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light" (22:5). This is the Christian's destiny—not a vague, ethereal heaven, but a restored city where God dwells eternally with His people.
Revelation was written by the apostle John during his exile on the island of Patmos around 95 AD, under the persecution of the emperor Domitian. The book employs apocalyptic genre—a literary form that uses dense symbolism to unveil spiritual realities.
Read this when hope grows dim, at the graveside, in unbearable suffering—to see where history's story truly ends.
Key verses in Revelation 21
Revelation 21:23 · Promise · High comfortRevelation 21:5 · Promise · High comfortRevelation 21:1 · Promise · High comfort
Explore each verse of Revelation 21
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