The Creation of the World

1 In the ^abeginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was ^bwithout form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 And God said, ^c“Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, ^d“Let there be an expanse¹ in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made² the expanse and ^eseparated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were ^fabove the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.³ And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, ^g“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth,⁴ and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, ^h“Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants⁵ yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for ⁱsigns and for ^jseasons,⁶ and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God ^kmade the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to ^lrule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds⁷ fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So ^mGod created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, ⁿ“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, ^o“Let us make man⁸ in our image, ^pafter our likeness. And ^qlet them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, ^s“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. ^tYou shall have them for food. 30 And ^uto every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 ^vAnd God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The New Heaven and the New Earth

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.”

The New Jerusalem

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.