Revelation 22
The full text of Revelation 22 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Greek. Free to read.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
6 The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."
7 "Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll."
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me.
9 But he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!"
10 Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near.
11 Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy."
12 "Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let the one who hears say, "Come!" Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.
19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Translation notes (11)
- Revelation 22:1a The description of the river of the water of life (potamon hydatos zoes) recalls imagery from the Garden of Eden and Ezekiel's vision of the river flowing from the temple.
- Revelation 22:2a The scene reworks Ezekiel 47:12, where trees on both banks of the temple river bear fresh fruit each month and their leaves serve for healing. The Greek xylon (ξύλον), 'tree' or 'wood', is singular yet may be collective, which explains how the tree of life stands on each side of the river. Therapeia, 'healing', widens Ezekiel's vision to embrace the nations.
- Revelation 22:6a Greek reads ho theos tōn pneumatōn tōn prophētōn, literally 'the God of the spirits of the prophets', rendered here as a verbal phrase because the genitive expresses God's authority over the prophetic spirit at work in the prophets. Compare the similar title in Numbers 27:16, 'the God of the spirits of all flesh'.
- Revelation 22:11a Greek uses four aorist imperatives with eti, 'still'. In context they function as concessive or predictive declarations rather than commands, echoing the Septuagint of Daniel 12:10 and signaling a judicially fixed course as the time is near.
- Revelation 22:13a Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. The middle title, ho protos kai ho eschatos, 'the First and the Last', echoes the divine self-declaration of Isaiah 44:6 and 48:12. The three paired titles, elsewhere applied to God (Revelation 1:8; 21:6) and to Christ (Revelation 1:17), are here united in a single utterance.
- Revelation 22:14a Some manuscripts read 'those who do his commandments' (this is the reading found in later Byzantine manuscripts and the Textus Receptus, which is behind the King James Version) instead of 'those who wash their robes.'
- Revelation 22:15a The Greek phrase hoi kynes, 'the dogs,' refers to those outside the new Jerusalem and symbolizes people who are morally impure.
- Revelation 22:16a Greek rhiza ('root') and genos ('offspring') present Jesus as both the source and the descendant of David, drawing on Isaiah 11:1 and 11:10. The title aster ho lampros ho proinos, 'the bright morning star', echoes the oracle of Numbers 24:17, where a star rises out of Jacob, a text long read messianically in both Jewish and Christian tradition.
- Revelation 22:18a Greek biblion, 'scroll' (βιβλίον), here denotes the written Revelation circulated among the churches, not the whole biblical canon; compare also 'prophecy of this scroll' in verses 18–19. The warning formula alludes to Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32 and Proverbs 30:6. The verb martyro, 'I testify', functions as a solemn warning.
- Revelation 22:19a Greek manuscripts read xylou (ξύλου), 'tree', not 'book'. The reading 'book of life', familiar from the King James tradition, entered the printed text when Erasmus, lacking the final leaf of Revelation in his Greek manuscript, translated these verses back into Greek from the Latin Vulgate, whose libro reflects a scribal confusion of ligno, 'tree', with libro, 'book'.
- Revelation 22:21a The Greek closing here, hē charis tou kyriou Iēsou meta pantōn, 'The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all,' is attested by numerous early and significant manuscripts. The final 'Amen' is also widely present in the manuscript tradition.
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