1 And I saw a river of water of life, clear as glass, coming out of the high seat of God and of the Lamb, 2 In the middle of its street. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, having twelve sorts of fruits, giving its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree give life to the nations. 3 And there will be no more curse: and the high seat of God and of the Lamb will be there; and his servants will be worshipping him; 4 And they will see his face; and his name will be on their brows. 5 And there will be no more night; and they have no need of a light or of the shining of the sun; for the Lord God will give them light: and they will be ruling for ever and ever. 6 And he said to me, These words are certain and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to make clear to his servants the things which are now to come about. 7 See, I come quickly. A blessing on him who keeps the words of this book of the prophet. 8 And I, John, am he who saw these things and to whose ears they came. And when I had seen and given ear, I went down on my face to give worship at the feet of the angel who made these things clear to me. 9 And he said to me, See you do it not; I am a brother-servant with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book: give worship to God. 10 And he said to me, Let not the words of this prophet's book be kept secret, because the time is near. 11 Let the evil man go on in his evil: and let the unclean be still unclean: and let the upright go on in his righteousness: and let the holy be holy still. 12 See, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man the outcome of his works. 13 I am the First and the Last, the start and the end. 14 A blessing on those whose robes are washed, so that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may go in by the doors into the town. 15 Outside are the dogs, and those who make use of evil powers, those who make themselves unclean, and the takers of life, and those who give worship to images, and everyone whose delight is in what is false. 16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give witness to you of these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who gives ear, say, Come. And let him who is in need come; and let everyone desiring it take of the water of life freely. 18 For I say to every man to whose ears have come the words of this prophet's book, If any man makes an addition to them, God will put on him the punishments which are in this book: 19 And if any man takes away from the words of this book, God will take away from him his part in the tree of life and the holy town, even the things which are in this book. 20 He who gives witness to these things says, Truly, I come quickly. Even so come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. So be it.
Revelation · Bible in Basic English
Revelation 22 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (21)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Revelation 7:17; John 4:14; John 7:38–39; Psalm 36:8–9; John 4:10–11
- 2 Revelation 22:1; 1 Peter 2:24; Revelation 2:7; Ezekiel 47:8–12; Genesis 2:9
- 3 Matthew 25:21; Revelation 21:3–4; John 12:26; Revelation 7:15–17; John 14:3
- 4 Matthew 5:8; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 3:12; 1 John 3:2–3; 1 Corinthians 13:12
- 5 Isaiah 60:19–20; Daniel 7:18; Revelation 20:4; Daniel 7:27; 1 Peter 1:3–4
- 6 Revelation 1:1; Revelation 21:5; Revelation 19:9; Romans 1:2; Acts 3:18
- 7 Revelation 1:3; Revelation 3:11; Revelation 22:20; Revelation 22:12; Revelation 22:9–10
- 8 Revelation 19:10; Revelation 1:1
- 9 Revelation 19:10; Colossians 2:18–19; Revelation 14:7; 1 John 5:20; Revelation 4:10
- 10 Daniel 8:26; Revelation 1:3; 1 Peter 4:7; Revelation 10:4; Matthew 10:27
- 11 Daniel 12:10; Proverbs 4:18; Ezekiel 3:27; 2 Timothy 3:13; Matthew 15:14
- 12 Matthew 16:27; Isaiah 62:11; Isaiah 40:10; 1 Corinthians 3:14; Revelation 22:7
- 13 Revelation 1:8; Revelation 21:6; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12; Revelation 1:17
- 14 Revelation 21:27; 1 John 5:3; 1 John 3:23–24; Revelation 22:7; 1 John 3:3
- 15 Revelation 21:8; Galatians 5:19–21; Philippians 3:2; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; Revelation 21:27
- 16 Revelation 5:5; 2 Peter 1:19; Isaiah 11:1; Romans 1:3–4; Revelation 1:4
- 17 John 4:14; Revelation 21:6; Isaiah 55:1–3; John 7:37; Isaiah 12:3
- 18 Deuteronomy 12:32; Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 1:3; Revelation 22:7
- 19 Deuteronomy 4:2; Luke 11:52; Revelation 22:2; Psalm 69:28; Revelation 1:3
- 20 Revelation 22:7; Hebrews 9:28; Revelation 22:12; 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Corinthians 16:22
- 21 2 Thessalonians 3:18; Romans 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 6:23–24; Revelation 1:4
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
And thus He forewarns us: "Behold, the Lord [cometh], and His reward is before His face, to render to every man according to his work." He exhorts us, therefore, with our whole heart to attend to this, that we be not lazy or slothful in any good work.
… easy to obtain from the Church; since the apostles, like a rich man [depositing his money] in a bank, lodged in her hands most copiously all things pertaining to the truth: so that every man, whosoever will, can draw from her the water of life. For she is the entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers.
But said the angel, "Rise; see thou do it not: worship God, for I am thy fellow-servant, and the brethren's." An angel, then, forbade a man to fall down at his feet.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
He says, "be consummated," be completed, according to that in the Apocalypse, "Let the righteous become more righteous, and let the filthy be filthy still." For the wickedness of those men appears consummate, who crucified the Son of God; but greater is theirs who will not live uprightly, and hate the precepts of truth, for whom the Son of God …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)