Passage

Revelation 21.1-3

Book: Revelation · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. 2. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God:"

"4. and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away. 5. And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he saith, Write: for these words are faithful and true." (Revelation 21:1-5, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. 2. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3. I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God."

"4. He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.” 5. He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.”" (Revelation 21:1-5, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."

"4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." (Revelation 21:1-5, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth did pass away, and the sea is not any more; 2. and I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of the heaven, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband; 3. and I heard a great voice out of the heaven, saying, 'Lo, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and He will tabernacle with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, their God,"

"4. and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and the death shall not be any more, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor shall there be any more pain, because the first things did go away.' 5. And He who is sitting upon the throne said, 'Lo, new I make all things; and He saith to me, 'Write, because these words are true and stedfast;'" (Revelation 21:1-5, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: John the Apostle (traditionally) / John of Patmos + Jesus's direct discourse (in the visions)
Audience: seven churches of Asia Minor + future Christian believers
Location: Patmos (composition); visions span heaven + earth + new creation
Time period: composed c. AD 95 (Domitianic dating, most common) or c. AD 65-68 (Neronic dating, minority)

Theological reading

Key words

G2316 - theos, theos (Strong's G2316). Also appears in: Matthew 1.23, Matthew 3.16, Matthew 5.9.
G4637 - skenoo, skenoo (Strong's G4637). Also appears in: John 1.14, Revelation 21.3.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.