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Revelation 21

Revelation 21 shows God dwelling with his people in a new creation where death ends and evil has no place.

John sees a new heaven and a new earth, with the first creation passed away. New Jerusalem descends from God, and a voice announces that God will dwell with his people and end death and sorrow. The one on the throne promises life to the thirsty and declares judgment against evil. An angel then shows John the city as the Lamb’s bride, describing its gates and foundations before John explains how God and the Lamb fill it with light.

grieffear for the futuredeath and what comes after
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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 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, “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 which were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”
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, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12having a great and high wall with 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.
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. Its length is as great as its width. He measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand twelve stadia. Its length, width, 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 chrysoprase, 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 or 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.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Revelation 21:3God’s presence with his people is the heart of the vision, explaining the city’s glory and the end of sorrow.
Revelation 21:6The one who rules over beginning and end promises the water of life as a gift to the thirsty.
Revelation 21:8The warning of the second death places judgment alongside renewal and anticipates the exclusion of evil from the city.
Where this chapter reaches

Isaiah shares the promises of new heavens and a new earth, the end of death, and nations drawn to divine light; Ezekiel shares the imagery of a measured city and God dwelling with his people. John shares the water-of-life imagery and the promise of life through Jesus.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

Which detail of God dwelling with his people speaks most to what you hope will end?

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How do the city’s open gates and its exclusion of evil shape your understanding of God’s promised future?

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Questions people ask about Revelation 21

What is the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21?

New Jerusalem is the holy city John sees descending from heaven, from God. The angel identifies it as the Lamb’s bride, linking the city with the people who belong to him. Its gates bear Israel’s tribal names, and its foundations bear the apostles’ names. God’s presence defines its life.

Why is there no more sea in Revelation 21?

Verse 1 states that the sea is gone when the first heaven and earth pass away, but it does not explain the detail. Some readers understand a physical change; others see the removal of chaos and danger. The chapter’s explicit emphasis is that death, sorrow, and pain have ended.

Why is there no temple in the New Jerusalem?

John explains that the city has no temple because God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The whole city is marked by their presence, and God’s glory supplies its light. This fulfills the earlier announcement that God will dwell with his people; no separate temple building appears in the vision.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).