Revelation 22

1 He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,

2 in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3 There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, 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 night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.

6 He said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon.”

7 “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

8 Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things.

9 He said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

10 He said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still.”

12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.

13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.

15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.

18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book.

19 If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

20 He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus!

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

Around Revelation 22

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

Revelation 22 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

The river of the water of life runs clear as crystal from the throne of God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the city’s street. On both sides stands the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding it every month, and its leaves are “for the healing of the nations.” There is no more curse, no night, and no need of lamp or sun. God’s servants will see his face.

Then the angel tells John these words are faithful and true, and a voice says that he is coming soon. John falls down to worship the angel, and again he is stopped. Worship is for God only. The chapter closes with invitations and a warning. The Spirit and the bride say to come, and whoever is thirsty may take the water of life freely. No one may add to or take away from this book. The last words of the Bible’s final book are a prayer: “Yes, come, Lord Jesus!” and a blessing of grace.

Background

This is the final chapter of Revelation and of the Christian Bible. The river, the tree of life and the end of the curse look back to the first chapters of Genesis (see Genesis 2 and 3), so the story ends where it began, with God and people together. The warning against adding to or taking away from the book is aimed at this book, not at the whole Bible.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes