Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

A new heaven and a new earth appeared before me. The old heaven and the old earth had vanished, and there was no more sea.

The holy city, the new Jerusalem, began to come down from God out of heaven. It was prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. A great voice boomed from heaven: "God's dwelling is with people now! He will live among them, and they will be his people. God himself will be their God."

Every tear would be wiped away from the eyes of those who dwell there. Death, sorrow, crying, and pain would all disappear, for the old world was gone. The One seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new." He instructed, "Write this down: these words are faithful and true."

He turned to me and said, "It is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give freely from the fountain of life's water to all who thirst." The One seated on the throne promised, "Those who overcome will inherit everything. I will be their God, and they will be my sons."

But those who were fearful and unbelieving, along with murderers, adulterers, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars of every kind would be cast into a lake of fire that burns with sulfur. This is the second death.

One of the seven angels who carried the bowls filled with God's final judgments came to me and said, "Come with me; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." He took me on a journey in the Spirit to a great mountain where I saw the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from heaven.

The city shone with the glory of God. Its light was like a precious jasper stone, clear as crystal. The wall surrounding the city was incredibly high and strong, with twelve gates. Each gate had an angel standing guard, and above them were inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

There were three gates on the east side, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. The city's wall rested on twelve foundations, each bearing the name of one of the Lamb's apostles.

An angel with a golden measuring rod measured the city, its gates, and its walls. I saw that the city was perfectly square, with equal length and width. It measured 12,000 furlongs in all directions, with the same dimensions for its height as well. The angel measured the wall of the city to be 144 cubits long, which is how tall an angel would measure it.

The city's walls were made of jasper, shining like pure gold and transparent glass. The foundations were adorned with precious stones: jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolyte, beryl, topaz, chrysoprasus, jacinth, and amethyst.

The city's gates were made of pearls, one single pearl for each gate. The main street was pure gold, shining like transparent glass. There was no temple in the city, for God himself and the Lamb are its sanctuary.

The city didn't need sunlight or moonlight because the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb was its light. Nations from all over would walk in the city's light, bringing their glory and honor into it. The gates would never shut by day since there would be no night.

People would bring into the city the glory and honor they had brought to their earthly kingdoms. Nothing that defiles or commits abomination would ever enter the city, only those whose names were written in the Lamb's book of life.