1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, going forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2. In the midst of the street of it, and of the river, on this side and on that, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3. And no accursed thing shall be there; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall minister unto Him. 4. And they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads. 5. And there shall be no night there; and they have no need of a lamp and the light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and they shall reign for ages of ages. 6. And He said unto me, These words are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets hath sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done. 7. And I come quickly; happy is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book. 8. And I John saw these things and heard; and when I heard and saw, I fell down to adore before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them that keep the words of this book; adore God. 10. And he saith unto me, Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is just, let him be just still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12. And behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to everyone according as his work shall be. 13. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the End, the First and the Last. 14. Happy are they that do His commandments, that their power may be in the tree of life, and they may enter in through the gates into the city. 15. But without are dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and doeth a lie. 16. I Jesus have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the churches; I am the Root, and the Offspring of David, the bright and morning Star. 17. And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that thirsteth come; and let him that willeth take the water of life freely. 18. For I testify unto everyone that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. 19. And if anyone shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and the things which are written in this book. 20. He who testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Yea come, Lord Jesus. 21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. * Numbers 927-931 are omitted from the original Latin.

THE SPIRITUAL SENSE

The contents of the whole chapter

That church is still described as to intelligence from Divine truths from the Lord (verses 1-5). That Revelation was manifested by the Lord, and that it is to be revealed in its own time (verses 6-10). Concerning the coming of the Lord, and His conjunction with those who believe in Him, and live according to His commandments (verses 11-17). That the things which are revealed are by all means to be kept (verses 18-19). The Betrothal (verses 17, 20-21).

The contents of each verse

Verse 1. "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, going forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb," signifies Revelation now opened and explained as to its spiritual sense, where Divine truths in abundance are revealed by the Lord, for those who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem (n. 932). Verse 2. "In the midst of the street of it, and of the river, on this side and on that, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits," signifies that in the inmosts of the truths of doctrine and thence of life in the New Church is the Lord in His Divine love, from Whom all the goods, which man there does apparently as of himself, flow forth (n. 933, 934). "Yielding its fruit every month," signifies that the Lord produces goods with man according to every state of truth with him (n. 935). "And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations," signifies rational truths therefrom, by which they who are in evils and thence in falsities are led to think soundly and to live becomingly (n. 936). Verse 3. "And no accursed thing shall be there; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall minister unto Him," signifies that in the church which is the New Jerusalem, there will not be any who are separated from the Lord, because the Lord Himself will reign there, and they who are in truths from Him through the Word, and do His commandments, will be with Him, because conjoined with Him (n. 937). Verse 4. "And they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads," signifies that they will turn themselves to the Lord, and the Lord will turn Himself to them, because they are conjoined by love (n. 938, 939). Verse 5. "And there shall be no night there, and they have no need of a lamp and the light of the sun, for the Lord giveth them light," signifies that there will not be any falsity of faith in the New Jerusalem, and that men there will not be in knowledges concerning God there from natural light which is their own intelligence, and from glory arising from pride, but will be in spiritual light from the Word from the Lord alone (n. 940). "And they shall reign for ages of ages," signifies that they will be in the Lord's kingdom and in conjunction with Him to eternity (n. 941). Verse 6. "And He said unto me, These words are faithful and true," signifies that they may know this for certain, because the Lord Himself has testified and said it (n. 942). "And the Lord God of the holy prophets hath sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done," signifies that the Lord, from Whom is the Word of both Covenants, has revealed through heaven to those who are in truths from Him, the things which are certainly to be (n. 943). Verse 7. "Behold, I come quickly; happy is he that keepeth the words of this prophecy," signifies that the Lord will certainly come, and will give eternal life to those who keep and do the truths or precepts of doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord (n. 944). Verse 8. "And I John saw these things and heard; and when I heard and saw, I fell down to adore before the feet of the angel who showed me these things," signifies that John thought that the angel who was sent to him by the Lord, that he might be kept in a state of the spirit, was God Who revealed those things; when yet it was not so, for the angel only showed what the Lord manifested (n. 945). Verse 9. "And he said unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them that keep the words of this book, adore God," signifies that the angels of heaven are not to be adored and invoked, because nothing Divine belongs to them; but that they are associated with men as brethren with brethren, with those who are in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and do its commandments; and that the Lord alone is to be adored in consociation with them (n. 946). Verse 10. "And he said unto me, Seal not the words of this prophecy, for the time is at hand," signifies that Revelation must not be closed up, but is to be opened; and that this is necessary in the end of the church, that any may be saved (n. 947). Verse 11. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is just, let him be just still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still," signifies the state of all in particular after death, and before his judgment, and in general before the Last Judgment, that goods will be taken away from those who are in evils, and truths from those who are in falsities; and on the other hand, that evils will be taken away from those who are in goods, and falsities from those who are in truths (n. 948). Verse 12. "And behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to everyone according as his work shall be," signifies that the Lord will certainly come, and that He is heaven and the happiness of eternal life to everyone according to his faith in Him, and his life according to His commandments (n. 949). Verse 13. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last," signifies because the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and by Him all things in the heavens and on earth were made, and are ruled by His Divine providence, and are done according to it (n. 950). Verse 14. "Happy are they that do His commandments, that their power may be in the tree of life, and they may enter through the gates into the city," signifies that they have eternal happiness who live according to the Lord's commandments, for the end that they may be in the Lord and the Lord in them by love, and in His New Church by knowledges concerning Him (n. 951). Verse 15. "But without are dogs, and sorcerers and whoremongers, and murderers and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and doeth a lie," signifies that no one is received into the New Jerusalem, who makes the precepts of the Decalogue of no account, and does not shun any evils there named as sins, and therefore lives in them (n. 952). Verse 16. "I Jesus have sent My angel to testify unto you these things in the churches," signifies a testification by the Lord before the whole Christian world, that it is true that the Lord alone manifested the things which are described in this book, as also those which are now opened (n. 953). "I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and morning Star," signifies that He is the Lord Himself who was born in the world, and was then the Light, and who will come with new light, which will arise before His New Church, which is the holy Jerusalem (n. 954). Verse 17. "And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come," signifies that heaven and the church desire the coming of the Lord (n. 955). "And let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that thirsteth come; and let him that willeth take the water of life freely," signifies that he who knows anything of the Lord's coming, and of the New Heaven and the New Church, and thus of the Lord's kingdom, should pray that it may come; and that he who desires truths should pray that the Lord may come with light; and that he who loves truths will then receive them from the Lord without labor of his own (n. 956). Verse 18. "For I testify unto everyone that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book," signifies that they who read and know the truths of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord, and still acknowledge any other God than the Lord, and any other faith than in Him, by adding anything by which they may destroy these two, cannot do otherwise than perish from the falsities and evils which are signified by the plagues described in this book (n. 957). Verse 19. "And if anyone shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and the things which are written in this book," signifies that they who read and know the truths of the doctrine of this book now opened by the Lord, and still acknowledge any other God than the Lord, and any other faith than in Him, by taking away anything by which they may destroy these two, cannot be wise in and appropriate to themselves anything from the Word, nor be received into the New Jerusalem, nor have their lot with those who are in the Lord's kingdom (n. 958, 959). Verse 20. "He who testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly; yea, come, Lord Jesus," signifies the Lord, who revealed Revelation, and has now opened it, testifying this Gospel, that in His Divine Human, which He assumed in the world and glorified, He comes as the Bridegroom and Husband; and that the church desires Him as a Bride and Wife (n. 960).

THE EXPLANATION. Verse 1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life bright as crystal, going forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb, signifies Revelation now opened and explained as to its spiritual sense, where Divine truths in abundance are revealed by the Lord for those who will be in His New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. By "the pure river of water of life bright as crystal" is signified the Divine truth of the Word in abundance translucent from its spiritual sense, which is in the light of heaven. That the Divine truth in abundance is signified by "a river" (n. 409) because truths are signified by "the waters" of which a river consists (n. 50, 685, 719); and by "the waters of life" those truths from the Lord through the Word, as follows. And by "bright as crystal" are signified these truths translucent from the spiritual sense, which is in the light of heaven (n. 897). That the river was seen "to go forth out of the throne of God and the Lamb," signifies that it is out of heaven from the Lord; for by "the throne" the Lord is signified as to judgment and as to government and as to heaven; as to judgment (n. 229, 845, 865); as to government (n. 694, 808 at the end); and as to heaven (n. 14, 221, 222); here therefore out of heaven from the Lord. By "God and the Lamb" here as often above, the Lord is signified as to the Divine Itself from which all things are, and as to the Divine Human. [2] That by "the river of water of life," in particular, are meant Divine truths in abundance, here now revealed by the Lord in Revelation, is manifest from verses 6, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16-19 of this chapter, where the book of this prophecy is treated of, and it is said the things which are there written are to be kept, which could not be kept before the things which are contained therein were revealed by means of the spiritual sense, because they were not before understood; and Revelation is also the Word, like the prophetic Word of the Old Testament; and the evils and falsities of the church which are to be shunned and held in aversion, and the goods and truths of the church which are to be done, are now disclosed in the Revelation, especially those concerning the Lord and concerning eternal, life from Him; which are indeed taught in the prophets, but not so manifestly as in the Evangelists and in the Apocalypse; and the Divine truths concerning the Lord, that He is the God of heaven and earth, which then proceed from Him, and are received by those who will be in the New Jerusalem, which are treated of in Revelation, are those which are meant in particular by "the pure river of water of life bright as crystal, going forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb," as may also be evident from these passages:

Jesus said, He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, Out of his belly shall flow streams of living water (John 7:38). Jesus said, Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst to eternity, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life eternal (John 4:14). I will give unto him that is athirst of the water of life freely (Rev. 21:6; 22:17). And the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters (Rev. 7:17). In that day shall living waters go out from Jerusalem; Jehovah shall be one King over all the earth; in that day shall Jehovah be one, and His name one (Zech. 14:8-9). By "living waters," or "waters of life," Divine truths from the Lord are there signified.