1I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth.’ The first heaven and the first earth were completely gone. There was no longer any sea. (Isa 65:17)2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.3I heard a loud voice from the throne. It said, ‘Look! God now makes his home with the people. He will live with them. They will be his people. And God himself will be with them and be their God.4“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death.” And there will be no more sadness. There will be no more crying or pain. Things are no longer the way they used to be.’ (Isa 25:8)5He who was sitting on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down. You can trust these words. They are true.’6He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water to anyone who is thirsty. The water will come from the spring of the water of life. It doesn’t cost anything!7Those who have victory will receive all this from me. I will be their God, and they will be my children.8But others will be thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. Those who are afraid and those who do not believe will be there. Murderers and those who make themselves impure will join them. Those who commit sexual sins and those who practise witchcraft will go there. Those who worship statues of gods and all who tell lies will be there too. The lake of fire is the second death.’
The new Jerusalem is the bride of the Lamb
9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me. The bowls were filled with the seven last plagues. The angel said, ‘Come. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’10Then he carried me away in a vision. The Spirit took me to a huge, high mountain. He showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City. It was coming down out of heaven from God.11It shone with the glory of God. It gleamed like a very valuable jewel. It was like a jasper, as clear as crystal.12The city had a huge, high wall with 12 gates. Twelve angels were at the gates, one at each of them. On the gates were written the names of the 12 tribes of Israel.13There were three gates on the east and three on the north. There were three gates on the south and three on the west.14The wall of the city had 12 foundations. Written on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.15The angel who talked with me had a gold measuring rod. He used it to measure the city, its gates and its walls.16The city was laid out like a square. It was as long as it was wide. The angel measured the city with the rod. It was 1,400 miles long. It was as wide and high as it was long.17The angel measured the wall as human beings measure things. It was 70 metres thick.18The wall was made out of jasper. The city was made out of pure gold, as pure as glass.19The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of jewel. The first foundation was made out of jasper. The second was made out of sapphire. The third was made out of agate. The fourth was made out of emerald.20The fifth was made out of onyx. The sixth was made out of ruby. The seventh was made out of chrysolite. The eighth was made out of beryl. The ninth was made out of topaz. The tenth was made out of turquoise. The eleventh was made out of jacinth. The twelfth was made out of amethyst.21The 12 gates were made from 12 pearls. Each gate was made out of a single pearl. The main street of the city was made out of gold. It was gold as pure as glass that people can see through clearly.22I didn’t see a temple in the city. That’s because the Lamb and the Lord God who rules over all are its temple.23The city does not need the sun or moon to shine on it. God’s glory is its light, and the Lamb is its lamp.24The nations will walk by the light of the city. The kings of the world will bring their glory into it.25Its gates will never be shut, because there will be no night there.26The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it.27Only what is pure will enter the city. No one who causes people to believe lies will enter it. No one who does shameful things will enter it either. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will enter the city.
Revelation 21
Nuova Riveduta 2006
from Società Biblica di Ginevra
I nuovi cieli e la nuova terra
1Poi vidi un nuovo cielo e una nuova terra, poiché il primo cielo e la prima terra erano scomparsi, e il mare non c’era più.2E vidi la santa città, la nuova Gerusalemme, scendere dal cielo da presso Dio, pronta come una sposa adorna per il suo sposo.3Udii una gran voce dal trono, che diceva: «Ecco il tabernacolo di Dio con gli uomini! Egli abiterà con loro, essi saranno suoi popoli[1] e Dio stesso sarà con loro {e sarà il loro Dio}.4Egli asciugherà ogni lacrima dai loro occhi e non ci sarà più la morte, né cordoglio, né grido, né dolore, perché le cose di prima sono passate».5E colui che siede sul trono disse: «Ecco, io faccio nuove tutte le cose». Poi mi disse: «Scrivi, perché queste parole sono fedeli e veritiere», e aggiunse:6«Ogni cosa è compiuta. Io sono l’alfa e l’omega, il principio e la fine. A chi ha sete io darò gratuitamente della fonte dell’acqua della vita.7Chi vince erediterà queste cose, io gli sarò Dio ed egli mi sarà figlio.8Ma per i codardi, gli increduli, gli abominevoli, gli omicidi, i fornicatori, gli stregoni, gli idolatri e tutti i bugiardi, la loro parte sarà nello stagno ardente di fuoco e di zolfo, che è la morte seconda».
La nuova Gerusalemme
9Poi venne uno dei sette angeli che avevano le sette coppe piene degli ultimi sette flagelli, e mi parlò, dicendo: «Vieni e ti mostrerò la sposa, la moglie dell’Agnello».10Egli mi trasportò in spirito su una grande e alta montagna, e mi mostrò la santa città, Gerusalemme, che scendeva dal cielo da presso Dio,11con la gloria di Dio. Il suo splendore era simile a quello di una pietra preziosissima, come una pietra di diaspro cristallino.12Aveva delle mura grandi e alte; aveva dodici porte e alle porte dodici angeli. Sulle porte erano scritti dei nomi, che sono quelli delle dodici tribù dei figli d’Israele.13Tre porte erano a oriente, tre a settentrione, tre a mezzogiorno e tre a occidente.14Le mura della città avevano dodici fondamenti, e su quelli stavano i dodici nomi dei dodici apostoli dell’Agnello.15E colui che mi parlava aveva come misura una canna d’oro, per misurare la città, le sue porte e le sue mura.16E la città era quadrata, e la sua lunghezza era uguale alla larghezza; egli misurò la città con la canna, ed era dodicimila stadi[2]; la lunghezza, la larghezza e l’altezza erano uguali.17Ne misurò anche le mura ed erano di centoquarantaquattro cubiti[3], a misura d’uomo, adoperata dall’angelo.18Le mura erano costruite con diaspro e la città era d’oro puro, simile a terso cristallo.19I fondamenti delle mura della città erano adorni d’ogni specie di pietre preziose. Il primo fondamento era di diaspro; il secondo, di zaffiro; il terzo, di calcedonio; il quarto, di smeraldo;20il quinto, di sardonico; il sesto, di sardio; il settimo, di crisòlito; l’ottavo, di berillo; il nono, di topazio; il decimo, di crisopazio; l’undicesimo, di giacinto; il dodicesimo, di ametista.21Le dodici porte erano dodici perle e ciascuna era fatta da una perla sola. La piazza della città era d’oro puro, simile a cristallo trasparente.22Nella città non vidi alcun tempio, perché il Signore, Dio onnipotente, e l’Agnello sono il suo tempio.23La città non ha bisogno di sole, né di luna che la illuminino, perché la gloria di Dio la illumina, e l’Agnello è la sua lampada.24Le nazioni cammineranno alla sua luce e i re della terra vi porteranno la loro gloria.25Di giorno le sue porte non saranno mai chiuse (la notte non vi sarà più);26e in lei si porterà la gloria e l’onore delle nazioni.27E nulla di impuro, né chi commetta abominazioni o falsità, vi entrerà; ma soltanto quelli che sono scritti nel libro della vita dell’Agnello.