1 Then I saw ^ya new heaven and a new earth, for ^zthe first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw ^athe holy city, ^bnew Jerusalem, ^ccoming down out of heaven from God, ^dprepared ^eas a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, ^fthe dwelling place¹ of God is with man. He will ^gdwell with them, and they will be his people,² and God himself will be with them as their God.³ 4 ^hHe will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and ⁱdeath shall be no more, ^jneither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And ^khe who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I ^lam making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for ^mthese words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, ⁿ“It is done! ^oI am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. ^pTo the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 ^qThe one who conquers will have this heritage, and ^rI will be his God and ^she will be my son. 8 ^tBut as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, ^utheir portion will be in ^vthe lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is ^wthe second death.”

9 Then came ^xone of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of ^ythe seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you ^zthe Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And ^ahe carried me away in the Spirit to ^ba great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 ^chaving the glory of God, ^dits radiance ^elike a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, ^fwith twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve ^gfoundations, and ^hon them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And the one who spoke with me ⁱhad a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.⁴ Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits⁵ by ^jhuman measurement, which is also ^kan angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of ^ljasper, while the city was pure gold, like ^lclear glass. 19 ^mThe foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, 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 the gates made of a single pearl, and ⁿthe street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 And ^oI saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city ^phas no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for ^qthe glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light ^rwill the nations walk, and the kings of the earth ^swill bring their glory into it, 25 and ^tits gates will never be shut by day—and ^uthere will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But ^vnothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s ^wbook of life.

1 Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and ^man earthly place of holiness. 2 For ⁿa tent¹ was prepared, the first section, in which were ^othe lampstand and ^pthe table and ^qthe bread of the Presence.² It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind ^rthe second curtain was a second section³ called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden ^saltar of incense and ^tthe ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^ua golden urn holding the manna, and ^vAaron’s staff that budded, and ^wthe tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were ^xthe cherubim of glory overshadowing ^ythe mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

6 These preparations having thus been made, ^zthe priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only ^athe high priest goes, and he but ^aonce a year, and not without taking blood, ^bwhich he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that ^cthe way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age).⁴ According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered ^dthat cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with ^efood and drink and ^fvarious washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest ^gof the good things that have come,⁵ then through ^hthe greater and more perfect tent (ⁱnot made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he ^jentered ^konce for all into the holy places, not by means of ^lthe blood of goats and calves but ^mby means of his own blood, ⁿthus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if ^othe blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with ^pthe ashes of a heifer, sanctify⁶ for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will ^qthe blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ^roffered himself without blemish to God, ^spurify our⁷ conscience ^tfrom dead works ^uto serve the living God.

15 Therefore he is ^vthe mediator of a new covenant, so that ^wthose who are called may ^xreceive the promised eternal inheritance, ^ysince a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.⁸ 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For ^za will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated ^awithout blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took ^bthe blood of calves and goats, ^cwith water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, ^d“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both ^ethe tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and ^fwithout the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

23 Thus it was necessary for ^gthe copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places ^hmade with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God ⁱon our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as ^jthe high priest enters ^kthe holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, ^lhe has appeared ^monce for all ⁿat the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as ^oit is appointed for man to die once, and ^pafter that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once ^qto bear the sins of ^rmany, will appear ^sa second time, ^tnot to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly ^uwaiting for him.