16:11 You lead me in 1 the path of life; 2
I experience absolute joy in your presence; 3
you always give me sheer delight. 4
46:4 The river’s channels bring joy to the city of God, 5
the special, holy dwelling place of 6 the sovereign One. 7
20:17 He will not look on the streams, 8
the rivers, which are the torrents 9
of honey and butter. 10
43:20 The wild animals of the desert honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the desert
and streams in the wilderness,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
48:21 They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions;
he makes water flow out of a rock for them;
he splits open a rock and water flows out.’ 11
22:1 Then 12 the angel 13 showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out 14 from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 22:2 flowing down the middle of the city’s 15 main street. 16 On each side 17 of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds 18 of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. 19 Its leaves are for the healing of the nations. 22:3 And there will no longer be any curse, 20 and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. 21 His 22 servants 23 will worship 24 him, 22:4 and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 22:5 Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever.
22:6 Then 25 the angel 26 said to me, “These words are reliable 27 and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants 28 what must happen soon.”
22:7 (Look! I am coming soon!
Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy expressed in this book.) 29
22:8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things, 30 and when I heard and saw them, 31 I threw myself down 32 to worship at the feet of the angel who was showing them to me. 22:9 But 33 he said to me, “Do not do this! 34 I am a fellow servant 35 with you and with your brothers the prophets, and with those who obey 36 the words of this book. Worship God!” 22:10 Then 37 he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy contained in this book, because the time is near. 22:11 The evildoer must continue to do evil, 38 and the one who is morally filthy 39 must continue to be filthy. The 40 one who is righteous must continue to act righteously, and the one who is holy must continue to be holy.”
22:12 (Look! I am coming soon,
and my reward is with me to pay 41 each one according to what he has done!
22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last,
the beginning and the end!) 42
22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access 43 to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates. 22:15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers 44 and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! 45
22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star!” 46 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.
1 tn Heb “cause me to know”; or “cause me to experience.”
2 tn This is a metaphorical way of saying, “you preserve my life.” The phrase “path of life” stands in contrast to death/Sheol in Prov 2:18-19; 5:5-6; 15:24.
3 tn Heb “abundance of joy [is] with your face.” The plural form of the noun שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “joy”) occurs only here and in Ps 45:15. It may emphasize the degree of joy experienced.
4 tn Heb “delight [is] in your right hand forever.” The plural form of the adjective נָעִים (na’im, “pleasant, delightful”) may here emphasize the degree of delight experienced (see Job 36:11).
5 tn Heb “A river, its channels cause the city of God to be glad.”
6 tn Heb “the holy [place] of the dwelling places of.” The adjective “holy” is used here in a substantival manner and placed in construct with the following noun (see GKC 428 §132.c). Origen’s transliterated text assumes the reading קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh, “holiness; holy place”), while the LXX assumes a Piel verbal form קִדֵּשׁ (qidesh, “makes holy”) and takes the following form as “his dwelling place.” The plural form מִשְׁכְּנֵי (mishkÿney, “dwelling places of”) is probably a plural of degree, emphasizing the special character of this dwelling place. See GKC 397 §124.b. The form stands as an appositional genitive in relation to the preceding construct noun.
7 tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.
8 tn The word פְּלַגּוֹת (pÿlaggot) simply means “streams” or “channels.” Because the word is used elsewhere for “streams of oil” (cf. 29:6), and that makes a good parallelism here, some supply “oil” (cf. NAB, NLT). But the second colon of the verse is probably in apposition to the first. The verb “see” followed by the preposition bet, “to look on; to look over,” means “to enjoy as a possession,” an activity of the victor.
9 tn The construct nouns here have caused a certain amount of revision. It says “rivers of, torrents of.” The first has been emended by Klostermann to יִצְהָר (yitshar, “oil”) and connected to the first colon. Older editors argued for a נָהָר (nahar) that meant “oil” but that was not convincing. On the other hand, there is support for having more than one construct together serving as apposition (see GKC 422 §130.e). If the word “streams” in the last colon is a construct, that would mean three of them; but that one need not be construct. The reading would be “He will not see the streams, [that is] the rivers [which are] the torrents of honey and butter.” It is unusual, but workable.
10 sn This word is often translated “curds.” It is curdled milk, possibly a type of butter.
11 sn The translation above (present tense) assumes that this verse describes God’s provision for returning Babylonian exiles (see v. 20; 35:6; 49:10) in terms reminiscent of the Exodus from Egypt (see Exod 17:6).
12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
13 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel mentioned in 21:9, 15) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Grk “proceeding.” Water is more naturally thought to pour out or flow out in English idiom.
15 tn Grk “its”; the referent (the city, the new Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).
17 tn Grk “From here and from there.”
18 tn Or “twelve crops” (one for each month of the year).
19 tn The words “of the year” are implied.
20 tn Or “be anything accursed” (L&N 33.474).
21 tn Grk “in it”; the referent (the city, the new Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Grk “city, and his.” Although this is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek, a new sentence was started here in the translation because of the introduction of the Lamb’s followers.
23 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
24 tn Or “will serve.”
25 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
26 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel mentioned in 21:9, 15; 22:1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Grk “faithful.”
28 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
29 sn These lines are parenthetical, forming an aside to the narrative. The speaker here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself rather than the narrator.
30 tn Or “I am John, the one who heard and saw these things.”
31 tn The pronoun “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
32 tn Grk “I fell down and worshiped at the feet.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
33 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present here.
34 tn On the elliptical expression ὅρα μή ({ora mh) BDAG 720 s.v. ὁράω B.2 states: “Elliptically…ὅρα μή (sc. ποιήσῃς) watch out! don’t do that! Rv 19:10; 22:9.”
35 tn Grk “fellow slave.” Though σύνδουλος (sundoulos) is here translated “fellow servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
36 tn Grk “keep” (an idiom for obedience).
37 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
38 tn Grk “must do evil still.”
39 tn For this translation see L&N 88.258; the term refers to living in moral filth.
40 tn Grk “filthy, and the.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek, but because of the length and complexity of the construction a new sentence was started in the translation.
41 tn The Greek term may be translated either “pay” or “pay back” and has something of a double meaning here. However, because of the mention of “wages” (“reward,” another wordplay with two meanings) in the previous clause, the translation “pay” for ἀποδοῦναι (apodounai) was used here.
42 sn These lines are parenthetical, forming an aside to the narrative. The speaker here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself rather than the narrator.
43 tn Grk “so that there will be to them authority over the tree of life.”
44 tn On the term φάρμακοι (farmakoi) see L&N 53.101.
45 tn Or “lying,” “deceit.”
46 tn On this expression BDAG 892 s.v. πρωϊνός states, “early, belonging to the morning ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ πρ. the morning star, Venus Rv 2:28; 22:16.”