Revelation 21 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed.

And I saw the set-apart city — the new Jerusalem — coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling is now among humans. He will live with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God."

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist, and grief, crying, and pain will no longer exist, because the old order of things has passed away.

And the one seated on the throne said, "Look! I am making everything new." Then he said, "Write this down, because these words are trustworthy and true."

He told me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega — the Beginning and the End. To anyone who is thirsty, I will give water from the spring of life as a free gift."

The one who overcomes will inherit all of this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

But the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and all liars — their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I'll show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."

And he carried me away in the Breath to a great, towering mountain, and showed me the set-apart city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

radiating with the glory of God. Its brilliance was like a precious jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.

It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve emissaries of the Lamb.

The angel who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.

The city was laid out as a square — its length equal to its width. He measured the city with the rod: 12,000 stadia in length, width, and height — a perfect cube.

He also measured its wall: 144 cubits, by human measurement, which the angel was using.

The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself was pure gold, transparent like glass.

The foundations of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,

the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

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

I didn't see a temple in the city, because the Lord God — the All-Powerful — and the Lamb are its temple.

The city doesn't need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and the Lamb is its lamp.

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

Its gates will never be shut during the day — and there will be no night there.

They will bring the splendor and honor of the nations into it.

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices what is shameful or deceptive — only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.