The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Part 62

XVIII.

AFTER these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

(2)And he cried with a strong voice, saying: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

(3)Because all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth became rich out of the abundance of her luxury.

(4)And I heard another voice out of heaven, saying: Come out of her, my people, that ye partake not in her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (5)For her sins reached unto heaven, and G.o.d remembered her iniquities. (6)Reward her as she also rewarded, and render twofold according to her works; in the cup which she mixed, mix for her twofold. (7)By as much as she glorified herself, and lived luxuriously, so much torment and mourning give her; because in her heart she says: I sit a queen, and not a widow, and shall not see mourning. (8)Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be burned up with fire because strong is the Lord G.o.d who judged her.

(9)And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her, shall weep, and shall lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning; (10)standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying: Alas, alas, the great city Babylon, the mighty city! Because in one hour thy judgment is come.

(11)And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their lading any more; (12)the lading of gold, and of silver, and of precious stones, and of pearls, and of fine linen, and of purple, and of silk, and of scarlet; and all citron wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel of most precious wood, and of bra.s.s, and of iron and of marble, (13)and cinnamon, and amomum, and odors, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and [lading] of horses, and of chariots, and of slaves; and souls of men. (14)And the fruit that thy soul desired departed from thee, and all the dainty and goodly things perished from thee, and thou shalt no more find them.

(15)The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, (16)saying: Alas, alas, the great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls; (17)because in one hour so great riches are made desolate.

And every pilot, and every one that sails to any place, and seamen, and as many as do business at sea, stood afar off, (18)and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying: Who is like to the great city! (19)And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying: Alas, alas, the great city, whereby all that have the s.h.i.+ps in the sea became rich by reason of her costliness; because in one hour she is made desolate.

(20)Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, ye apostles, and ye prophets; because G.o.d judged your cause upon her.

(21)And a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying: Thus with violence shall Babylon the great city be cast down, and shall be found no more. (22)And the voice of harpers, and of musicians, and of pipers, and of trumpeters, shall be heard in thee no more; and no craftsman, of whatever craft, shall be found any more in thee, and the sound of a millstone shall be heard in thee no more; (23)and the light of a lamp shall s.h.i.+ne in thee no more; and the voice of bridegroom and of bride shall be heard in thee no more; because thy merchants were the great men of the earth; because by thy sorcery all the nations were led astray.

(24)And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints and of all that have been slain upon the earth.

XIX.

AFTER these things, I heard as it were a loud voice of a great mult.i.tude in heaven, of those saying: Alleluia; the salvation, and the glory, and the power, are our G.o.d's; (2)because true and righteous are his judgments; because he judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. (3)And a second time they said: Alleluia. And her smoke goes up forever and ever.

(4)And the twenty-four elders, and the four animals, fell down and wors.h.i.+ped G.o.d, who sits on the throne, saying: Amen; Alleluia.

(5)And a voice came out from the throne, saying: Praise our G.o.d, all ye his servants, and ye who fear him, the small and the great.

(6)And I heard as it were the voice of a great mult.i.tude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thunders, saying: Alleluia; because the Lord G.o.d the Almighty reigns. (7)Let us rejoice and exult, and we will give to him the glory; because the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife made herself ready. (8)And it was given her that she should be clothed in fine linen, pure and s.h.i.+ning; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.

(9)And he says to me: Write, Happy are they who are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb. And he says to me: These are the true sayings of G.o.d. (10)And I fell before his feet to wors.h.i.+p him. And he said to me: See thou do it not. I am a fellow-servant of thee and of thy brethren who have the testimony of Jesus; wors.h.i.+p G.o.d. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

(11)And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he who sat upon him, called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he judges, and makes war. (12)His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, which no one knows but he himself. (13)And he was clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and his name is called, The Word of G.o.d. (14)And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white, pure. (15)And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he may smite the nations; and he will rule them with a rod of iron; and he treads the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of G.o.d the Almighty. (16)And he has on his garment, and on his thigh, a name written: KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

(17)And I saw an angel standing in the sun. And he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven: Come, and gather yourselves together to the great supper of G.o.d; (18)that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains of thousands, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all, both free and bond, both small and great.

(19)And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war with him who sat on the horse, and with his army. (20)And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his presence, with which he led astray those who received the mark of the beast, and who wars.h.i.+p his image. The two were cast alive into the lake of fire, that burns with brimstone.

(21)And the rest were slain with the sword of him who sat upon the horse, which went forth out of his mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

XX.

AND I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. (2)And he laid hold of the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, (3)and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and set a seal over him, that he mislead the nations no more, until the thousand years are finished; after these he must be loosed a little time.

(4)And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them; and the souls of those beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of G.o.d, and whoever did not wors.h.i.+p the beast, neither his image, and did not receive the mark upon the forehead, or upon their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (5)The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (6)Happy and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection; on these the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of G.o.d and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

(7)And when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be loosed out of his prison, (8)and will go out to mislead the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. (9)And they went up upon the breadth of the earth, and encompa.s.sed the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; and fire came down from G.o.d[20:9] out of heaven, and devoured them. (10)And the Devil who misleads them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

(11)And I saw a great white throne, and him who sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.

(12)And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And books were opened; and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life; and the dead were judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works. (13)And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and the underworld gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged each one according to their works.

(14)And death and the underworld were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (15)And if any one was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

XXI.

AND I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth pa.s.sed away, and the sea is no more.

(2)And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from G.o.d, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (3)And I heard a loud voice out of the throne, saying: Behold, the tabernacle of G.o.d is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and G.o.d-WITH-THEM[21:3] himself will be their G.o.d. (4)And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, nor shall mourning, nor crying, nor pain be any more; because the former things are pa.s.sed away.

(5)And he who sat upon the throne said: Behold, I make all things new.

And he says: Write; because these words are faithful and true.

(6)And he said to me: It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that thirsts, of the fountain of the water of life freely. (7)He that overcomes shall inherit these things; and I will be to him a G.o.d, and he shall be to me a son. (8)But the fearful, and unbelieving, and defiled with abominations, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all the liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

(9)And there came one from among the seven angels, who have the seven cups full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying: Come hither; I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. (10)And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from G.o.d, (11)having the glory of G.o.d; her luminary like to a most precious stone, as it were to a jasper stone, clear as crystal; (12)having a wall great and high; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel; (13)on the east three gates, and on the north three gates, and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. (14)And the wall of the city had twelve foundation-stones, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

(15)And he who talked with me had a golden reed for a measure, that he might measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

(16)And the city lies foursquare, and its length is as great as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal.

(17)And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that of an angel. (18)And the structure of its wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like to pure gla.s.s. (19)The foundation-stones of the wall of the city were adorned with every precious stone. The first foundation-stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; (20)the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, hyacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. (21)And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each several gate was of one pearl; and the street of the city was pure gold, as transparent gla.s.s.

(22)And I saw in it no temple; for the Lord G.o.d the Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb.

(23)And the city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to s.h.i.+ne on it; for the glory of G.o.d lightened it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. (24)And the nations will walk by its light; and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. (25)And its gates will not be shut by day; for there will be no night there; (26)and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. (27)And there shall not enter into it any thing unclean, or that works abomination or falsehood; but they who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

XXII.

AND he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of G.o.d and of the Lamb. (2)In the midst of its street, and on either side of the river, was a tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (3)And there will be no more curse. And the throne of G.o.d and of the Lamb will be in it; and his servants will serve him, (4)and will see his face, and his name will be upon their foreheads. (5)And there will be no night there; and they will have no need of a lamp, nor of the light of the sun, because the Lord G.o.d will give them light; and they will reign forever and ever.

(6)And he said to me: These sayings are faithful and true; and the Lord, the G.o.d of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show to his servants what things must shortly come to pa.s.s. (7)Behold, I come quickly. Happy is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

(8)And I, John, am he who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to wors.h.i.+p before the feet of the angel, who showed me these things. (9)And he says to me: See thou do it not. I am a fellow-servant of thee and of thy brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the sayings of this book; wors.h.i.+p G.o.d.

(10)And he says to me: Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand. (11)He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

(12)Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to each one according as his work is. (13)I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (14)Happy are they who wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. (15)without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loves and makes a lie.

(16)I, Jesus, sent my angel, to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.

(17)And the Spirit and the bride say: Come. And let him that hears say: Come. And let him that thirsts, come; let him that will, take the water of life freely.