The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (294 page)

Vision of the New Jerusalem

9
 
Then came one of the seven angels
who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, "Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb."
¹⁰
And
in the Spirit
he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
¹¹
having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
¹²
It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed;
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 on them the twelve names of
the twelve apostles
of the Lamb.

15
 And he who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.
¹⁶
The city lies foursquare, its
length the same as its breadth
; and he measured the city with his rod, twelve thousand stadia;
^q
its length and breadth and height are equal.
¹⁷
He also measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits by a man's measure, that is, an angel's.
¹⁸
The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass.
¹⁹
The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,
²⁰
the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
²¹
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

22
 And I saw no temple in the city, for
its temple is the Lord
God the Almighty and the Lamb.
²³
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
²⁴
By its light shall the nations walk; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it,
²⁵
and its gates shall never be shut by day—and there shall be no night there;
²⁶
they shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
²⁷
But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

River of the Water of Life

22
  
Then he showed me the river of
the water of life
, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
²
through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river,
the tree of life
^r
with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
³
There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him;
⁴
they
shall see his face
, and his name shall be on their foreheads.
⁵
And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.

6
 
And he said to me
, "These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.
⁷
And behold,
I am coming soon
."

Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

Epilogue and Benediction

8
 
I John
am he who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me;
⁹
but he said to me, "You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book.
Worship God
."

10
 And he said to me, "
Do not seal up
the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
¹¹
Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy."

12
 "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has 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,
^s
that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
¹⁵
Outside
are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood.

16
 "I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am
the root and the offspring
of David, the bright morning star."

17
 The Spirit and
the Bride
say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price.

18
 
I warn every one
who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
¹⁹
and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

20
 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus
!

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

Commentary on The Revelation to Saint John

1:1 gave him:
In classic apocalyptic fashion, the revealed message comes from God through the mediation of heavenly beings, in this case through Jesus Christ and his angel (1:12-20; 22:16).
must soon take place:
A note of immediacy rings throughout the book, especially in the opening (1:3) and closing chapters (22:6-7, 10, 12, 20). The initial fulfillment of the book was thus expected within the lifetime of its first-century readers. • The expression alludes to the Greek version of Dan 2:28, where Nebuchadnezzar sees in a dream "what will be" in the latter days of the Messiah. The implication: what was still far off in Daniel's day is on the verge of fulfillment in John's day.
John:
Probably the Apostle John, a son of Zebedee (Mk 3:17). See introduction to Revelation:
Author.
 
Back to text.

1:3 Blessed:
The first of seven benedictions invoked upon those who heed the injunctions of the book (14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14) (CCC 2626).
he who reads
 . . .
those who hear:
The distinction between a single reader and multiple listeners implies a public reading of the book. Most likely this would take place in a liturgical setting, where the book would be read by a lector to a congregation assembled for worship.
prophecy:
As in the prophetic books of the OT, Revelation combines disclosures about the future with reflections on the past and appeals to remain faithful in the present. 
Back to text.

1:4 the seven churches:
Identified by name in 1:11 and addressed individually in chaps. 2-3.
Asia:
A Roman province in southwestern Turkey.
Grace
 . . .
and peace:
A standard greeting in Christian correspondence (Rom 1:7; 1 Pet 1:2). By adding the farewell formula in Rev 22:21, John gives the entire book the character of a letter to be read in the liturgy (Col 4:16; 1 Thess 5:27).
him who is:
Implies that God is the eternal Lord of history. • The expression expands on the name of Yahweh revealed at the burning bush (Ex 3:14) (CCC 206, 212). 
Back to text.

1:4-5
Grace and peace flow out from the Trinity, as seen in the threefold repetition of
from,
which is linked to the Father
(him who is),
the Son
(Christ),
and the Holy Spirit
(the seven spirits).
Christian interpreters have often read the "seven spirits" of Revelation as an allusion to the Spirit and his sevenfold gifts mentioned in Is 11:2 LXX (e.g., St. Ambrose,
On the Holy Spirit
1, 16). Symbolic reflections of the Trinity also appear at Rev 5:6 and 22:1. 
Back to text.

1:5 the first-born:
The risen humanity of Jesus is the
1
first specimen of God's new creation (21:5). • Jesus is described in the words of Ps 89:27, where Yahweh promises to exalt the messianic heir of David over every world ruler. This was fulfilled in Christ, who became "King of kings" (Rev 19:16) through his Resurrection and Ascension into heaven (Acts 2:2936).
See note on Rom 1:3
. • Christ is called the first-born of the dead, not because he died before we did, but because he suffered death for us and was the first to rise again. Since he has risen, we too shall rise again through him (St. Athanasius,
Discourses against the Arians
2, 61). 
Back to text.