A New Heaven and a New Earth
1Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”21:1 Isaiah 65:17 for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’21:4 Isaiah 25:8 or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb
9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia21:16 That is, about 1,400 miles or about 2,200 kilometers in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits21:17 That is, about 200 feet or about 65 meters thick.21:17 Or high 18The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.21:20 The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain. 21The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Mbingu Mpya Na Nchi Mpya
121:1 Isa 65:17; 2Pet 3:13Kisha nikaona mbingu mpya na nchi mpya, kwa maana mbingu za kwanza na nchi ya kwanza vimekwisha kupita, wala hapakuwepo na bahari tena. 221:2 Ebr 11:10; 12:22Nikaona Mji Mtakatifu, Yerusalemu mpya, ukishuka kutoka mbinguni kwa Mungu, ukiwa umeandaliwa kama bibi arusi aliyepambwa kwa ajili ya mumewe. 321:3 2Kor 6:16; Zek 2:10; Isa 8:8Nami nikasikia sauti kubwa kutoka kile kiti cha enzi ikisema, “Sasa makao ya Mungu ni pamoja na wanadamu, naye atakaa pamoja nao. Yeye atakuwa Mungu wao nao watakuwa watu wake, naye Mungu mwenyewe atakuwa pamoja nao. 421:4 Ufu 7:17; 1Kor 15:26; Isa 35:10; 65:19Atafuta kila chozi kutoka macho yao. Mauti haitakuwepo tena, wala maombolezo, wala kilio, wala maumivu, kwa maana mambo ya kwanza yamekwisha kupita.”
521:5 Ufu 4:9; 20:11; 19:9Naye yule aliyeketi juu ya kile kiti cha enzi akasema, “Tazama, nayafanya mambo yote kuwa mapya!” Kisha akasema, “Andika haya, maana maneno haya ni ya kuaminika tena ni kweli.”
621:6 Ufu 16:17; 1:8; 22:13; Yn 4:10Akaniambia, “Imekwisha kuwa. Mimi ni Alfa na Omega, Mwanzo na Mwisho. Yeye aonaye kiu nitampa kunywa kutoka chemchemi ya maji ya uzima bila gharama yoyote. 721:7 Ufu 2:7; 2Sam 7:14Yeye ashindaye atayarithi haya yote, nami nitakuwa Mungu wake, naye atakuwa mwanangu. 821:8 Za 5:6; Ufu 2:11Lakini waoga, wasioamini, wachafu, wauaji, wazinzi, wachawi, waabudu sanamu, pamoja na waongo wote, mahali pao ni katika lile ziwa liwakalo moto na kiberiti. Hii ndiyo mauti ya pili.”
921:9 Ufu 15:1, 6, 7; 19:7Mmoja wa wale malaika saba waliokuwa na yale mabakuli saba ya hayo mapigo saba ya mwisho akaja akaniambia, “Njoo, nami nitakuonyesha bibi arusi, yaani, mke wa Mwana-Kondoo.” 1021:10 Ufu 17:3; 1:10; Eze 40:2; Ufu 21:2Naye akanichukua katika Roho hadi kwenye mlima mkubwa na mrefu, akanionyesha ule Mji Mtakatifu, Yerusalemu, ukishuka kutoka mbinguni kwa Mungu. 1121:11 Ufu 15:8; 4:6; Isa 60:1, 2; Eze 43:2; Ufu 21:23; 21:18, 19Ulikuwa ukingʼaa kwa utukufu wa Mungu kama kito chenye thamani sana, kama yaspi, safi kama kioo. 1221:12 Eze 48:30-34Ulikuwa na ukuta mkubwa, mrefu wenye malango kumi na mawili, pakiwa na malaika kumi na wawili kwenye hayo malango. Kwenye malango hayo yaliandikwa majina ya yale makabila kumi na mawili ya Israeli. 1321:13 Eze 48:31, 34Kulikuwa na malango matatu upande wa mashariki, matatu upande wa kaskazini, matatu upande wa kusini na matatu upande wa magharibi. 1421:14 Efe 2:20; Ebr 11:10; Mdo 1:2621:14 Ufu 11:1; Eze 40:3; Ufu 21:12Ukuta wa huo mji ulikuwa na misingi kumi na miwili, na juu yake yaliandikwa majina ya wale mitume kumi na wawili wa Mwana-Kondoo.
15Huyo malaika aliyesema nami alikuwa na ufito wa dhahabu wa kupimia huo mji, malango yake na kuta zake. 1621:16 Eze 45:16; 48:16; 17Mji huo ulikuwa mraba, urefu wake ulikuwa sawa na upana wake. Akaupima huo mji kwa huo ufito akakuta una kama kilomita 2,200;21:16 Kilomita 2,200 hapa ni sawa na maili 1,200. urefu wake na upana wake na kwenda juu kwake vilikuwa sawa. 1721:17 Ufu 13:18Akaupima ukuta wake, ulikuwa na unene wa dhiraa 14421:17 Dhiraa 144 ni karibu mita 65. kwa kipimo cha kibinadamu ambacho huyo malaika alikuwa akikitumia. 1821:18 Ufu 21:11, 21Ukuta huo ulijengwa kwa yaspi hali mji wenyewe ulijengwa kwa dhahabu safi, ikingʼaa kama kioo. 1921:19 Kut 28:17-20Misingi ya kuta za mji huo zilipambwa kwa kila aina ya kito cha thamani. Msingi wa kwanza ulikuwa wa yaspi, wa pili yakuti samawi, wa tatu kalkedoni, wa nne zumaridi, 2021:20 Ufu 4:3wa tano sardoniki, wa sita akiki, wa saba krisolitho, wa nane zabarajadi, wa tisa yakuti manjano, wa kumi krisopraso, wa kumi na moja hiakintho, wa kumi na mbili amethisto. 2121:21 Ufu 21:12; Isa 54:12; Ufu 21:18Yale malango kumi na mbili yalikuwa ni lulu kumi na mbili, kila lango lilikuwa limetengenezwa kwa lulu moja. Barabara kuu ya mji huo ilikuwa ya dhahabu safi ingʼaayo kama kioo.
2221:22 Yn 4:21-23; Ufu 1:8; 5:6Sikuona Hekalu ndani ya huo mji kwa sababu Bwana Mungu Mwenyezi na Mwana-Kondoo ndio hekalu lake. 2321:23 Isa 24:23; 22:5Ule mji hauhitaji jua wala mwezi kuuangazia, kwa sababu utukufu wa Mungu ndio nuru yake na Mwana-Kondoo ndiye taa yake. 2421:24 Isa 60:3, 5Mataifa yatatembea yakiangaziwa na nuru yake na wafalme wa duniani wataleta fahari yao ndani yake. 2521:25 Isa 60:11; Zek 14:7; Ufu 22:5Malango yake hayatafungwa kamwe, kwa maana hakutakuwa na usiku humo. 2621:26 Ufu 21:24Utukufu na heshima za mataifa zitaletwa humo. 2721:27 Yoe 3:17; Ufu 22:14, 15Lakini kitu kichafu hakitaingia humo kamwe, wala mtu yeyote atendaye mambo ya aibu au ya udanganyifu. Bali watakaoingia humo ni wale tu ambao majina yao yameandikwa katika kitabu cha uzima cha Mwana-Kondoo.
