Revelation 22

The river of the water of life

¹And he showed me a river of the water of life, bright as crystal, coming out from the throne of God and of the Lamb,^•²in the middle of its street. On either side of the river is the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.^•³There will no longer be any curse. And the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will serve Him,^•⁴and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.^•⁵There will be no more night, and they have no need of the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine on them; and they will reign forever and ever.^•

Behold, I am coming soon

⁶And he said to me: These words are faithful and true; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants the things that must soon happen.^•⁷And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.^•

⁸And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.^•⁹And he says to me: See that you do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.^•

¹⁰And he says to me: Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.^•¹¹Let the one who does wrong still do wrong; and the filthy still be filthy; and the righteous still do righteousness; and the holy still be made holy.^•¹²Behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to repay each one according to his work.^•¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.^•¹⁴Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.^•¹⁵Outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.^•

¹⁶I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.^•¹⁷And the Spirit and the bride say: Come! And let the one who hears say: Come! And let the one who is thirsty come; let whoever wishes take the water of life freely.^•

¹⁸I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;^•¹⁹and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.^•

²⁰He who testifies to these things says: Yes, I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!^•

²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.^•

Notes

22:1 “River of the water of life”: cf. 7:17; 21:6; Ezek 47:1–12; Zech 14:8; Ps 46:4 (Heb. 46:5) [LXX 45:5]; John 7:38. “Bright”: Gr. λαμπρός (cf. 15:6; 19:8). “Coming out”: Gr. ἐκπορεύομαι. Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “a pure river of the water of life”. ↩
22:2 “Street”: Gr. πλατεῖα (cf. 21:21). “On either side of the river”: Gr. ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐκεῖθεν (cf. Ezek 47:7, 12). “The tree of life”: Gr. ξύλον ζωῆς, possibly collective, “trees” (cf. 2:7; 22:14, 19; Gen 2:9; 3:22–24). “Every month”: lit. “according to each month”. “Healing”: Gr. θεραπεία (cf. Ezek 47:12). ↩
22:3 “Curse”: Gr. κατάθεμα, “accursed thing” (cf. Gen 3:17; Zech 14:11); the Textus Receptus reads κατανάθεμα. “The throne of God and of the Lamb”: cf. 3:21; 7:17. “His servants will serve Him”: Gr. αὐτοῦ… αὐτῷ, singular, referring to God and the Lamb together (cf. 11:15; 20:6). “Serve”: Gr. λατρεύω, to serve in worship (cf. 7:15). ↩
22:4 “They will see His face”: cf. Ex 33:20, 23; Ps 17:15 [LXX 16:15]; Matt 5:8; 1 Cor 13:12; 1 John 3:2. “His name… on their foreheads”: cf. 3:12; 7:3; 14:1, in contrast with 13:16–17. ↩
22:5 “There will be no more night”: cf. 21:25; Zech 14:7. “Have no need”: present in the Greek (cf. 21:23). “Will shine on them”: Gr. φωτίσει ἐπ’ αὐτούς, lit. “will give light upon them” (cf. Isa 60:19–20; Num 6:25). “Will reign”: cf. 5:10; 20:4, 6; Dan 7:18, 27. Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “there will be no night there” and “need of a lamp”; the Textus Receptus reads “gives them light”. ↩
22:6 “Faithful and true”: cf. 19:9; 21:5. “The God of the spirits of the prophets”: cf. Num 27:16; 1 Cor 14:32; the Textus Receptus reads “the God of the holy prophets”; the Byzantine text reads “And he says to me”. “To show His servants the things that must soon happen”: takes up 1:1 and frames the book. ↩
22:7 “Behold, I am coming soon”: cf. 2:16; 3:11; 22:12, 20. “Blessed”: cf. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:14, the sixth of the seven beatitudes of the book. “Keeps”: Gr. τηρέω (cf. 1:3; 3:10; 12:17; 14:12). ↩
22:8 “Am the one who heard and saw”: Gr. ὁ ἀκούων καὶ βλέπων, present participles, lit. “the one who hears and sees” (cf. 1:1, 4, 9). “I fell down to worship”: cf. 19:10. ↩
22:9 “See that you do not do that”: Gr. ὅρα μή (cf. 19:10). “Fellow servant”: Gr. σύνδουλος (cf. 6:11; 19:10). “The prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book”: cf. 19:10. “Worship God”: cf. 14:7. ↩
22:10 “Do not seal up”: in contrast with Dan 8:26; 12:4, 9 (cf. 10:4). “The time is near”: Gr. ὁ καιρὸς ἐγγύς (cf. 1:3). ↩
22:11 “The one who does wrong”: Gr. ὁ ἀδικῶν, “the one who practices injustice”; the same verb is “harm” in 2:11; 7:2–3. “Still”: Gr. ἔτι, “let him continue”. Cf. Dan 12:10; Ezek 3:27. “Be made holy”: Gr. ἁγιασθήτω (cf. Lev 11:44). Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “and the righteous, let him be made righteous still”. ↩
22:12 “Reward”: Gr. μισθός (cf. 11:18; Isa 40:10; 62:11). “To repay each one according to his work”: lit. “as his work is” (cf. 2:23; 20:12–13; Ps 62:12 (Heb. 62:13) [LXX 61:13]; Prov 24:12; Matt 16:27; Rom 2:6). Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “as his work will be”. ↩
22:13 “The Alpha and the Omega”: cf. 1:8; 21:6. “The First and the Last”: cf. 1:17; 2:8; Isa 44:6; 48:12. “The Beginning and the End”: cf. 3:14; 21:6. Titles of God in 1:8 and 21:6, here on the lips of Jesus (cf. 22:16). Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last”. ↩
22:14 “Blessed”: the seventh of the seven beatitudes of the book (cf. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7). “Those who wash their robes”: Gr. οἱ πλύνοντες τὰς στολὰς αὐτῶν (cf. 7:14; 3:4–5; 19:8); the reading of Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus. Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “those who do His commandments”, Gr. οἱ ποιοῦντες τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ (cf. 12:17; 14:12; John 14:15; 1 John 5:3). In Greek capital letters the two readings look very much alike. “Right”: Gr. ἐξουσία, “authority, right” (cf. 2:7; 22:2, 19). “By the gates”: cf. 21:12, 25, 27; Ps 118:19–20 [LXX 117:19–20]; Gen 3:24. ↩
22:15 “Outside”: cf. 21:8, 27; Matt 8:12. “Dogs”: an image of the impure (cf. Deut 23:18 (Heb. 23:19); Phil 3:2). “Sorcerers… immoral… murderers… idolaters”: cf. 21:8. “Who loves and practices falsehood”: cf. 14:5; 21:27; 2 Thess 2:10–12. ↩
22:16 “I, Jesus”: cf. 1:1. “For the churches”: Gr. ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις, also “to the churches” or “concerning the churches”. “The Root and the Offspring of David”: cf. 5:5; Isa 11:1, 10; Rom 1:3. “The bright Morning Star”: cf. 2:28; Num 24:17; 2 Pet 1:19. Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “the bright and morning Star”. ↩
22:17 “The Spirit”: cf. 2:7; 14:13. “The bride”: cf. 21:2, 9. “Come!”: Gr. ἔρχου (cf. 22:20). “The one who is thirsty… freely”: cf. 21:6; Isa 55:1; John 7:37. Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “and whoever wishes”. ↩
22:18 “I testify”: Gr. μαρτυρῶ (cf. 1:2); the Textus Receptus reads “For I testify together”. “If anyone adds to them”: cf. Deut 4:2; 12:32 (Heb. 13:1); Prov 30:6 [LXX 24:29]. “The plagues”: cf. 15:1, 6; 16:1–21; Deut 29:20 (Heb. 29:19). Variant: the Byzantine text reads “may God add” (and, in v. 19, “may God take away”). ↩
22:19 “Takes away”: Gr. ἀφαιρέω (cf. Deut 4:2). “His part from the tree of life”: cf. 2:7; 22:2, 14. Variant: the Textus Receptus reads “from the book of life”, a reading without support in the ancient Greek manuscripts (cf. 3:5; 20:12). ↩
22:20 “He who testifies”: cf. 1:2, 5; 3:14. “Yes”: Gr. ναί (cf. 1:7; 14:13; 16:7). “Come, Lord Jesus”: Gr. ἔρχου, κύριε Ἰησοῦ, the Greek equivalent of the Aramaic Maranatha (cf. 1 Cor 16:22). Variant: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “Amen. Yes, come, Lord Jesus”. ↩
22:21 “The grace… be with all”: cf. 1:4; 2 Thess 3:18. “Amen”: with Codex Sinaiticus, the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus; Codex Alexandrinus omits it. Variants: Codex Sinaiticus reads “with the saints”; the Byzantine text reads “of the Lord Jesus Christ with all the saints”; the Textus Receptus reads “of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all”. ↩