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He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
Revelation 22:1 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
  • BSB Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
  • NKJV And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
  • NASB And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
  • NLT Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

John sees a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Life flows abundantly and freely from God's presence.

Overview

The life-giving river recalls Eden's river (Genesis 2:10) and Ezekiel's temple river (Ezekiel 47:1-12), now fully realized. Flowing from the shared throne of God and the Lamb, it shows that eternal life comes from God through Christ (John 7:38). The new creation restores and surpasses paradise lost.

Cross-references & the web

Theme

  • Living WaterThe river of the water of life in the New Jerusalem.

Cross-references · 26

  • Rev 7:17for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
  • John 4:14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
  • John 7:38–39He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.”
  • Ps 36:8–9They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house. You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
  • John 4:10–11Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
  • Rev 21:6He said to me, “I have become the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
  • Zech 14:8It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.
  • Ps 46:4There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
  • Jer 17:13Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be disappointed. Those who depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the spring of living waters.
  • Rev 22:17The 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.
  • Jer 2:13“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
  • Ezek 47:1–9He brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; (for the forefront of the house was toward the east;) and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, on the south of the altar.
  • Acts 1:4–5Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.
  • Acts 2:33Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
  • Isa 41:18I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the middle of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
  • Isa 48:18Oh that you had listened to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
  • Rev 3:21He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.
  • John 15:26“When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.
  • Rev 4:5–6Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
  • Rev 7:10–11They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
  • Rev 21:11having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
  • John 14:16–18I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever, —
  • Rev 5:13I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!”
  • Rev 5:6I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
  • Isa 66:12For Yahweh says, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees.
  • John 16:7–15Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Revelation videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Revelation 22:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RevelationMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.

How Revelation 22:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.