The Living Bible (401 page)

Revelation
20

Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand.
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 He seized the Dragon—that old Serpent, the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years,
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 and threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so that he could not fool the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterwards he would be released again for a little while.

    
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 Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those who had been given the right to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus, for proclaiming the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the Creature or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They had come to life again and now they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

    
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 This is the First Resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)
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 Blessed and holy are those who share in the First Resurrection. For them the Second Death holds no terrors, for they will be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

    
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 When the thousand years end, Satan will be let out of his prison.
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 He will go out to deceive the nations of the world and gather them together, with Gog and Magog, for battle—a mighty host, numberless as sand along the shore.
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 They will go up across the broad plain of the earth and surround God’s people and the beloved city of Jerusalem
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on every side. But fire from God in heaven will flash down on the attacking armies and consume them.

    
¹⁰
 Then the devil who had betrayed them will again
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be thrown into the Lake of Fire burning with sulphur where the Creature and False Prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

    
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 And I saw a great white throne and the one who sat upon it, from whose face the earth and sky fled away, but they found no place to hide.
*
¹²
 I saw the dead, great and small, standing before God; and The Books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to the things written in The Books, each according to the deeds he had done.
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 The oceans surrendered the bodies buried in them; and the earth and the underworld gave up the dead in them. Each was judged according to his deeds.
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 And Death and Hell were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the Second Death—the Lake of Fire.
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 And if anyone’s name was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Revelation
21

Then I saw a new earth (with no oceans!) and a new sky, for the present earth and sky had disappeared.
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 And I, John, saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. It was a glorious sight, beautiful as a bride at her wedding.

    
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 I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, “Look, the home of God is now among men, and he will live with them and they will be his people; yes, God himself will be among them.
*
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 He will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. All of that has gone forever.”

    
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 And the one sitting on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true:
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 It is finished! I am the A and the Z—the Beginning and the End. I will give to the thirsty the springs of the Water of Life—as a gift!
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 Everyone who conquers will inherit all these blessings, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
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 But cowards who turn back from following me, and those who are unfaithful to me, and the corrupt, and murderers, and the immoral, and those conversing with demons, and idol worshipers and all liars—their doom is in the Lake that burns with fire and sulphur. This is the Second Death.”

    
⁹
 Then one of the seven angels who had emptied the flasks containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me and I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

    
¹⁰
 In a vision he took me to a towering mountain peak, and from there I watched that wondrous city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of the skies from God.
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 It was filled with the glory of God and flashed and glowed like a precious gem, crystal clear like jasper.
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 Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates.
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 There were three gates on each side—north, south, east, and west.
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 The walls had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

    
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 The angel held in his hand a golden measuring stick to measure the city and its gates and walls.
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 When he measured it, he found it was a square as wide as it was long; in fact it was in the form of a cube, for its height was exactly the same as its other dimensions—1,500 miles each way.
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 Then he measured the thickness of the walls and found them to be 216 feet across (the angel called out these measurements to me, using standard units).
*

    
^18-20
 The city itself was pure, transparent gold like glass! The wall was made of jasper, and was built on twelve layers of foundation stones inlaid with gems: the first layer
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with jasper; the second with sapphire; the third with chalcedony; the fourth with emerald; the fifth with sardonyx; the sixth layer with sardus; the seventh with chrysolite; the eighth with beryl; the ninth with topaz; the tenth with chrysoprase; the eleventh with jacinth; the twelfth with amethyst.

    
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 The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure, transparent gold, like glass.

    
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 No temple could be seen in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are worshiped in it everywhere.
*
²³
 And the city has no need of sun or moon to light it, for the glory of God and of the Lamb illuminate it.
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 Its light will light the nations of the earth, and the rulers of the world will come and bring their glory to it.
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 Its gates never close; they stay open all day long—and there is no night!
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 And the glory and honor of all the nations shall be brought into it.
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 Nothing evil will be permitted in it—no one immoral or dishonest—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Revelation
22

And he pointed out to me a river of pure Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb,
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 coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew Trees of Life,
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bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.

    
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 There shall be nothing in the city that is evil; for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.
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 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be written on their foreheads.
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 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will be their light; and they shall reign forever and ever.

    
^6-7
 Then the angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true:
‘I am coming soon!’
*
God, who tells his prophets what the future holds, has sent his angel to tell you this will happen soon. Blessed are those who believe it and all else written in the scroll.”

    
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 I, John, saw and heard all these things, and fell down to worship the angel who showed them to me;
⁹
 but again he said, “No, don’t do anything like that. I, too, am a servant of Jesus as you are, and as your brothers the prophets are, as well as all those who heed the truth stated in this book. Worship God alone.”

    
¹⁰
 Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up what you have written, for the time of fulfillment is near.
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 And when that time comes, all doing wrong will do it more and more; the vile will become more vile; good men will be better; those who are holy will continue on in greater holiness.”

    
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“See, I am coming soon,
*
and my reward is with me, to repay everyone according to the deeds he has done.
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I am the A and the Z, the Beginning and the End, the First and Last.
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Blessed forever are all who are washing their robes, to have the right to enter in through the gates of the city and to eat the fruit from the Tree of Life.

    
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“Outside the city are those who have strayed away from God, and the sorcerers and the immoral and murderers and idolaters, and all who love to lie, and do so.

    
¹⁶
 
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you to tell the churches all these things. I am both David’s Root and his Descendant. I am the bright Morning Star.
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The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let each one who hears them say the same, ‘Come.’ Let the thirsty one come—anyone who wants to; let him come and drink the Water of Life without charge.
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And I solemnly declare to everyone who reads this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God shall add to him the plagues described in this book.
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And if anyone subtracts any part of these prophecies, God shall take away his share in the Tree of Life, and in the Holy City just described.

    
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“He who has said all these things declares: Yes, I am coming soon!”
*

    
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

    
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 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!