To The Word – Day 214

₁After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a large crowd of people in heaven, saying, “Praise God! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God! ₂True and just are his judgements! He has condemned the prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her immorality. God has punished her because she killed his servants.” ₃Again they shouted, “Praise God! The smoke from the flames that consume the great city goes up for ever and ever!” ₄The 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who was seated on the throne. They said, “Amen! Praise God!”

₅Then there came from the throne the sound of a voice, saying, “Praise our God, all his servants and all people, both great and small, who have reverence for him!” ₆Then I heard what sounded like a large crowd, like the sound of a roaring waterfall, like loud peals of thunder. I heard them say, “Praise God! For the Lord, our Almighty God, is King! ₇Let us rejoice and be glad; let us praise his greatness! For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself for it. ₈She has been given clean shining linen to wear.” (The linen is the good deeds of God's people.)

₉Then the angel said to me, “Write this: happy are those who have been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And the angel added, “These are the true words of God.”

₁₀I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with your fellow-believers, all those who hold to the truth that Jesus revealed. Worship God!”

For the truth that Jesus revealed is what inspires the prophets.

₁₁Then I saw heaven open, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True; it is with justice that he judges and fights his battles. ₁₂His eyes were like a flame of fire, and he wore many crowns on his head. He had a name written on him, but no one except himself knows what it is. ₁₃The robe he wore was covered with blood. His name is “The Word of God”. ₁₄The armies of heaven followed him, riding on white horses and dressed in clean white linen. ₁₅Out of his mouth came a sharp sword, with which he will defeat the nations. He will rule over them with a rod of iron, and he will trample out the wine in the winepress of the furious anger of the Almighty God. ₁₆On his robe and on his thigh was written the name: “King of kings and Lord of lords”.

₁₇Then I saw an angel standing on the sun. He shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying in mid air: “Come and gather together for God's great feast! ₁₈Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and soldiers, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all people, slave and free, great and small!”

₁₉Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to fight against the one who was riding the horse and against his army. ₂₀The beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had performed miracles in his presence. (It was by those miracles that he had deceived those who had the mark of the beast and those who had worshipped the image of the beast.) The beast and the false prophet were both thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. ₂₁Their armies were killed by the sword that comes out of the mouth of the one who was riding the horse; and all the birds ate all they could of their flesh.

₁Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a heavy chain. ₂He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent — that is, the Devil, or Satan — and chained him up for a thousand years. ₃The angel threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that he must be let loose for a little while.

₄Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its image, nor had they received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years. ₅(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first raising of the dead. ₆Happy and greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years.

₇After the thousand years are over, Satan will be let loose from his prison, ₈and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. ₉They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. ₁₀Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

₁₁Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence and were seen no more. ₁₂And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. ₁₃Then the sea gave up its dead. Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they held. And all were judged according to what they had done. ₁₄Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.) ₁₅Whoever did not have their names written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire.

₁Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. ₂And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband. ₃I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: “Now God's home is with human beings! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. ₄He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.”

₅Then the one who sits on the throne said, “And now I make all things new!” He also said to me, “Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.” ₆And he said, “It is done! I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. To anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life without paying for it. ₇Those who win the victory will receive this from me: I will be their God, and they will be my children. ₈But cowards, traitors, perverts, murderers, the immoral, those who practise magic, those who worship idols, and all liars — the place for them is the lake burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”

₉One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said, “Come, and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” ₁₀The Spirit took control of me, and the angel carried me to the top of a very high mountain. He showed me Jerusalem, the Holy City, coming down out of heaven from God ₁₁and shining with the glory of God. The city shone like a precious stone, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ₁₂It had a great, high wall with twelve gates and with twelve angels in charge of the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of the people of Israel. ₁₃There were three gates on each side: three on the east, three on the south, three on the north, and three on the west. ₁₄The city's wall was built on twelve foundation stones, on which were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ₁₅The angel who spoke to me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. ₁₆The city was perfectly square, as wide as it was long. The angel measured the city with his measuring rod: it was 2,400 kilometres long and was as wide and as high as it was long. ₁₇The angel also measured the wall, and it was sixty metres high, according to the standard unit of measure which he was using. ₁₈The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself was made of pure gold, as clear as glass. ₁₉The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation stone was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ₂₀the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh yellow quartz, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chalcedony, the eleventh turquoise, the twelfth amethyst. ₂₁The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each gate was made from a single pearl. The street of the city was of pure gold, transparent as glass.

₂₂I did not see a temple in the city, because its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. ₂₃The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God shines on it, and the Lamb is its lamp. ₂₄The peoples of the world will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their wealth into it. ₂₅The gates of the city will stand open all day; they will never be closed, because there will be no night there. ₂₆The greatness and the wealth of the nations will be brought into the city. ₂₇But nothing that is impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of the living will enter the city.

₁The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb ₂and flowing down the middle of the city's street. On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. ₃Nothing that is under God's curse will be found in the city.

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. ₄They will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. ₅There shall be no more night, and they will not need lamps or sunlight, because the Lord God will be their light, and they will rule as kings for ever and ever.

₆Then the angel said to me, “These words are true and can be trusted. And the Lord God, who gives his Spirit to the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen very soon.”

₇“Listen!” says Jesus. “I am coming soon! Happy are those who obey the prophetic words in this book!”

₈I, John, have heard and seen all these things. And when I finished hearing and seeing them, I fell down at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things, and I was about to worship him. ₉But he said to me, “Don't do it! I am a servant together with you and with your brothers the prophets and with all those who obey the words in this book. Worship God!” ₁₀And he said to me, “Do not keep the prophetic words of this book a secret, because the time is near when all this will happen. ₁₁Whoever is evil must go on doing evil, and whoever is filthy must go on being filthy; whoever is good must go on doing good, and whoever is holy must go on being holy.”

₁₂“Listen!” says Jesus. “I am coming soon! I will bring my rewards with me, to give to each one according to what he has done. ₁₃I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

₁₄Happy are those who wash their robes clean and so have the right to eat the fruit from the tree of life and to go through the gates into the city. ₁₅But outside the city are the perverts and those who practise magic, the immoral and the murderers, those who worship idols and those who are liars both in words and deeds.

₁₆“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to announce these things to you in the churches. I am descended from the family of David; I am the bright morning star.”

₁₇The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”

Everyone who hears this must also say, “Come!”

Come, whoever is thirsty; accept the water of life as a gift, whoever wants it.

₁₈I, John, solemnly warn everyone who hears the prophetic words of this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to his or her punishment the plagues described in this book. ₁₉And if anyone takes anything away from the prophetic words of this book, God will take away from them their share of the fruit of the tree of life and of the Holy City, which are described in this book.

₂₀He who gives his testimony to all this says, “Yes indeed! I am coming soon!”

So be it. Come, Lord Jesus!

₂₁May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone.