Read the Bible

¹ And I saw a new Heaven and a new earth; for the first Heaven and the first earth were gone, and the sea no longer exists.² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God and made ready like a bride attired to meet her husband.³ And I heard a loud voice, which came from the throne, say, "God's dwelling place is among men and He will dwell among them and they shall be His peoples. Yes, God Himself will be among them.⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more; nor sorrow, nor wail of woe, nor pain; for the first things have passed away."⁵ Then He who was seated on the throne said, "I am re-creating all things." And He added, "Write down these words, for they are trustworthy and true."⁶ He also said, "They have now been fulfilled. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To those who are thirsty I will give the privilege of drinking from the well of the Water of Life without payment.⁷ All this shall be the heritage of him who overcomes, and I will be his God and he shall be one of My sons.⁸ But as for cowards and the unfaithful, and the polluted, and murderers, fornicators, and those who practise magic or worship idols, and all liars--the portion allotted to them shall be in the Lake which burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death."

⁹ Then there came one of the seven angels who were carrying the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues. "Come with me," he said, "and I will show you the Bride, the Lamb's wife."¹⁰ So in the Spirit he carried me to the top of a vast, lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God,¹¹ and bringing with it the glory of God. It shone with a radiance like that of a very precious stone--such as a jasper, bright and transparent.¹² It has a wall, massive and high, with twelve large gates, and in charge of the gates were twelve angels. And overhead, above the gates, names were inscribed which are those of the twelve tribes of the descendants of Israel.¹³ There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and engraved upon them were twelve names--the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.¹⁵ Now he who was speaking to me had a measuring-rod of gold, with which to measure the city and its gates and its wall.¹⁶ The plan of the city is a square, the length being the same as the breadth; and he measured the city furlong by furlong, with his measuring rod--it is twelve hundred miles long, and the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.¹⁷ And he measured the wall of it--a wall of a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to human measure, which was also that of the angel.¹⁸ The solid fabric of the wall was jasper; and the city itself was made of gold, resembling transparent glass.¹⁹ As for the foundation-stones of the city wall, which were beautified with various kinds of precious stones, the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius,²⁰ the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each of them consisting of a single pearl. And the main street of the city was made of pure gold, resembling transparent glass.²² I saw no sanctuary in the city, for the Lord God, the Ruler of all, is its Sanctuary, and so is the Lamb.²³ Nor has the city any need of the sun or of the moon, to give it light; for the glory of God has shone upon it and its lamp is the Lamb.²⁴ The nations will live their lives by its light; and the kings of the earth are to bring their glory into it.²⁵ And in the daytime (for there will be no night there) the gates will never be closed;²⁶ and the glory and honor of the nations shall be brought into it.²⁷ And no unclean thing shall ever enter it, nor any one who is guilty of base conduct or tells lies, but only they whose names stand recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life.