21:1 Et vidi caelum novum et terram novam. Primum enim caelum, et prima terra abiit, et mare jam non est.
*H I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone: and the sea is now no more.
Ver. 1. New, by their form and qualities, but not by their substance. — The first heaven and first earth was passed away: being changed, not as to their substance, but in their qualities. Ch.
* Footnote
* Isaias
65 : 17
For behold I create new heavens, and a new earth: and the former things shall not be in remembrance, and they shall not come upon the heart.
* Footnote
* Isaias
66 : 22
For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make to stand before me, saith the Lord: so shall your seed stand, and your name.
* Footnote
* 2_Peter
3 : 13
But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to his promises, in which justice dwelleth.
21:2 Et ego Joannes vidi sanctam civitatem Jerusalem novam descendentem de caelo a Deo, paratam sicut sponsam ornatam viro suo.
*H And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Ver. 2. Coming down from God out of heaven. By the city we must understand its citizens, the Angels and saints. Wi. — Justice, innocence, the good works of the saints, are the ornaments of the inhabitants of this new Jerusalem, the Church triumphant. If the world of the old Adam has appeared so beautiful, so magnificent, good God, what will be the riches of that which is made for Jesus Christ, the second Adam, and for his members! O Jesus! Father of the world to come, render us worthy of this new and everlasting world, and give us a disgust, a mortal hatred, for that which perishes, and which is the cause of our perdition.
21:3 Et audivi vocem magnam de throno dicentem : Ecce tabernaculum Dei cum hominibus, et habitabit cum eis. Et ipsi populus ejus erunt, et ipse Deus cum eis erit eorum Deus :
*H And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men: and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people: and God himself with them shall be their God.
Ver. 3. Behold the tabernacle of God with men, inasmuch as God's elect shall there dwell with him for ever and ever. Wi.
21:4 et absterget Deus omnem lacrimam ab oculis eorum : et mors ultra non erit, neque luctus, neque clamor, neque dolor erit ultra, quia prima abierunt.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more. Nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.
* Footnote
* Isaias
25 : 8
He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of his people he shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.
21:5 Et dixit qui sedebat in throno : Ecce nova facio omnia. Et dixit mihi : Scribe, quia haec verba fidelissima sunt, et vera.
And he that sat on the throne, said: Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me: Write. For these words are most faithful and true.
* Footnote
* Isaias
13 : 19
And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha.
* Footnote
* 2_Corinthians
3 : 17
Now the Lord is a Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
21:6 Et dixit mihi : Factum est : ego sum alpha et omega, initium et finis. Ego sitienti dabo de fonte aquae vitae, gratis.
*H And he said to me: It is done. I am Alpha and Omega: the Beginning and the End. To him that thirsteth, I will give of the fountain of the water of life, freely.
Ver. 6. It is done. The state of Christ's Church on earth, and in this world, is now finished; and the time is come to reward the good, and to punish the wicked in the lake burning with fire and brimstone, in hell, with the devils for all eternity. Wi. — This living water is God himself, of which the saints shall be inebriated at the source; i.e. in God himself. Enviable moment, when all the designs of God upon Jesus Christ and upon his Church will be accomplished: but how little thought of now! And how can we hope to be inebriated at this source of God above, if we do not aspire after it whilst we are in this dreary desert here below? He who begins and finishes gratuitously here below the work of our faith, crowns it still more liberally in heaven.
21:7 Qui vicerit, possidebit haec : et ero illi Deus, et ille erit mihi filius.
He that shall overcome shall possess these things. And I will be his God: and he shall be my son.
21:8 Timidis autem, et incredulis, et execratis, et homicidis, et fornicatoribus, et veneficis, et idolatris, et omnibus mendacibus, pars illorum erit in stagno ardenti igne et sulphure : quod est mors secunda.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, they shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
21:9 Et venit unus de septem angelis habentibus phialas plenas septem plagis novissimis, et locutus est mecum, dicens : Veni, et ostendam tibi sponsam, uxorem Agni.
*H And there came one of the seven angels, who had the vials full of the seven last plagues, and spoke with me, saying: Come and I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
Ver. 9. I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb: all the Church triumphant in heaven. Wi.
21:10 Et sustulit me in spiritu in montem magnum et altum, et ostendit mihi civitatem sanctam Jerusalem descendentem de caelo a Deo,
And he took me up in spirit to a great and high mountain: and he shewed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
21:11 habentem claritatem Dei : et lumen ejus simile lapidi pretioso tamquam lapidi jaspidis, sicut crystallum.
Having the glory of God, and the light thereof was like to a precious stone, as to the jasper stone even as crystal.
21:12 Et habebat murum magnum, et altum, habentem portas duodecim : et in portis angelos duodecim, et nomina inscripta, quae sunt nomina duodecim tribuum filiorum Israel :
And it had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.
21:13 ab oriente portae tres, et ab aquilone portae tres, et ab austro portae tres, et ab occasu portae tres.
On the east, three gates: and on the north, three gates: and on the south, three gates: and on the west, three gates.
21:14 Et murus civitatis habens fundamenta duodecim, et in ipsis duodecim nomina duodecim apostolorum Agni.
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations: And in them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb,
21:15 Et qui loquebatur mecum, habebat mensuram arundineam auream, ut metiretur civitatem, et portas ejus, et murum.
And he that spoke with me had a measure of a reed of gold, to measure the city and the gates thereof and the wall.
21:16 Et civitas in quadro posita est, et longitudo ejus tanta est quanta et latitudo : et mensus est civitatem de arundine aurea per stadia duodecim millia : et longitudo, et altitudo, et latitudo ejus aequalia sunt.
*H And the city lieth in a four-square: and the length thereof is as great as the breadth. And he measured the city with the golden reed for twelve thousand furlongs: and the length and the height and the breadth thereof are equal.
Ver. 16. The city is situate four-square; [1] and by what follows, so as to be a perfect square, though every thing that is quadrangular is not always a square, or perfect square. Wi.
21:17 Et mensus est murum ejus centum quadraginta quatuor cubitorum, mensura hominis, quae est angeli.
*H And he measured the wall thereof an hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, which is of an angel.
Ver. 17. The measure of a man, which is of an Angel. [2] This seems, without doubt, the sense of it. Wi.
21:18 Et erat structura muri ejus ex lapide jaspide : ipsa vero civitas aurum mundum simile vitro mundo.
And the building of the wall thereof was of jasper stone: but the city itself pure gold like to clear glass.
21:19 Et fundamenta muri civitatis omni lapide pretioso ornata. Fundamentum primum, jaspis : secundum, sapphirus : tertium, calcedonius : quartum, smaragdus :
And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper: the second, sapphire: the third; a chalcedony: the fourth, an emerald:
21:20 quintum, sardonyx : sextum, sardius : septimum, chrysolithus : octavum, beryllus : nonum, topazius : decimum, chrysoprasus : undecimum, hyacinthus : duodecimum, amethystus.
The fifth, sardonyx: the sixth, sardius: the seventh, chrysolite: the eighth, beryl: the ninth, a topaz: the tenth, a chrysoprasus: the eleventh, a jacinth: the twelfth, an amethyst.
21:21 Et duodecim portae, duodecim margaritae sunt, per singulas : et singulae portae erant ex singulis margaritis : et platea civitatis aurum mundum, tamquam vitrum perlucidum.
And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, one to each: and every several gate was of one several pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, as it were, transparent glass.
21:22 Et templum non vidi in ea : Dominus enim Deus omnipotens templum illius est, et Agnus.
*H And I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb.
Ver. 22. No temple in it. No need of a temple for divine worship, where God is in such a perfect manner present to all the blessed, where nothing can distract or divert their souls from endless adorations, praises, &c. Wi.
21:23 Et civitas non eget sole neque luna ut luceant in ea, nam claritas Dei illuminavit eam, et lucerna ejus est Agnus.
*H And the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God hath enlightened it: and the Lamb is the lamp thereof.
Ver. 23. Needeth not sun nor moon, where there is no vicissitude or succession of day and night, the divine brightness always shining to them. Wi.
21:24 Et ambulabunt gentes in lumine ejus : et reges terrae afferent gloriam suam et honorem in illam.
*H And the nations shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into it.
Ver. 24. The kings of the earth shall bring their glory; the elect, of all states and conditions, shall now be exalted like kings, or rather infinitely above the glory that we can imagine of any kings in this world. Wi.
21:25 Et portae ejus non claudentur per diem : nox enim non erit illic.
And the gates thereof shall not be shut by day: for there shall be no night there.
* Footnote
* Isaias
60 : 11
And thy gates shall be open continually: they shall not be shut day nor night, that the strength of the Gentiles may be brought to thee, and their kings may be brought.
21:26 Et afferent gloriam et honorem gentium in illam.
And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
21:27 Non intrabit in eam aliquod coinquinatum, aut abominationem faciens et mendacium, nisi qui scripti sunt in libro vitae Agni.
*H There shall not enter into it any thing defiled or that worketh abomination or maketh a lie: but they that are written in the book of life of the Lamb.
Ver. 27. There shall not enter it any thing defiled. This is what we ought always to remember and have in our minds. Wi.