¹ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

² And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

⁴ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

⁵ And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

⁶ And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

⁷ He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

⁸ But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

⁹ And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

¹⁰ And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

¹¹ Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

¹² And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

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 foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵ And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

¹⁶ And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large 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, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

¹⁸ And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

¹⁹ And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

²⁰ The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

²¹ And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

²² And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

²³ And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

²⁴ And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

²⁵ And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

²⁶ And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

²⁷ And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

¹ I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you do bear with me.

² For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I married you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

³ But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

⁴ For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive, or a different "good news", which you did not accept, you put up with that well enough.

⁵ For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles.

⁶ But though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not unskilled in knowledge. No, in every way we have been revealed to you in all things.

⁷ Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God's Good News free of charge?

⁸ I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you.

⁹ When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn't a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so.

¹⁰ As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.

¹¹ Why? Because I don't love you? God knows.

¹² But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them that desire an occasion, that in which they boast, they may be found even as we.

¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ's apostles.

¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.

¹⁵ It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

¹⁶ I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little.

¹⁷ That which I speak, I don't speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.

¹⁸ Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will also boast.

¹⁹ For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise.

²⁰ For you bear with a man, if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, if he strikes you on the face.

²¹ I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet however any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.

²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.

²³ Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I am more so; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.

²⁴ Five times from the Jews I received forty stripes minus one.

²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep.

²⁶ I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers;

²⁷ in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.

²⁸ Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily, anxiety for all the assemblies.

²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don't burn with indignation?

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness.

³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forevermore, knows that I don't lie.

³² In Damascus the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes desiring to arrest me.

³³ Through a window I was let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands.