Apocalipse 22

BLIVRE · Chapter 22/22

1E ele me mostrou o rio puro da água da vida, claro como cristal, que vinha do trono de Deus e do Cordeiro.

2No meio de sua praça, e de um lado e do outro do rio, [estava] a árvore da vida, que produz doze frutos, dando seu fruto a cada mês; e as folhas das árvores são para a saúde das nações.

3E não haverá mais maldição alguma; e nela estará o trono de Deus e do Cordeiro, e seus servos o servirão.

4E eles verão o rosto dele, e o nome dele [estará] em suas testas.

5E ali não haverá mais noite, e não terão necessidade de lâmpada, nem de luz do sol; porque o Senhor Deus os ilumina; e reinarão para todo o sempre.

6E ele me disse: “Estas palavras são fiéis e verdadeiras; e o Senhor, o Deus dos santos profetas, enviou o seu anjo para mostrar a seus servos as coisas que devem acontecer em breve.”

7“Eis que logo venho; bendito [é] aquele que guarda as palavras da profecia deste livro.”

8E eu, João, sou aquele que vi e ouvi estas coisas. E quando eu [as] ouvi e vi, prostrei-me para adorar diante dos pés do anjo, que me mostrava estas coisas.

9E ele me disse: “Olha, não [faças isto] ! Porque eu sou um companheiro de serviço teu, e de teus irmãos, os profetas, e dos que guardam as palavras deste livro. Adora a Deus.”

10E ele me disse: “Não seles as palavras da profecia deste livro, porque o tempo está próximo.

11Quem é injusto, faça injustiça ainda; e quem é sujo, suje-se ainda; e quem é justo, seja ainda justificado; e quem é santo, seja ainda santificado.”

12“Eis que logo venho, e minha recompensa está comigo, para retribuir a cada um assim como for sua obra.

13Eu sou o Alfa e o Ômega, o principio e o fim, o primeiro e o último.”

14Benditos são os que guardam os mandamentos dele, para que tenham direito à árvore da vida, e possam entrar na cidade pelas portas.

15Mas de fora [estarão] os cães, os feiticeiros, os pecadores sexuais, os homicidas, os idólatras, e todo aquele que ama e pratica a mentira.

16“Eu, Jesus, enviei o meu anjo, para vos dar testemunho destas coisas nas igrejas. Eu sou a raiz e descendência de Davi; [sou] a brilhante estrela da manhã.”

17E o Espírito e a noiva dizem: “Vem!” E quem [o] ouve, diga: “Vem!” E quem tem sede, venha; e quem quiser, tome de graça da água da vida.

18Porque eu também dou testemunho a todo aquele que ouvir as palavras da profecia deste livro, [que] se alguém acrescentar a estas, Deus lhe acrescentará as pragas que estão escritas neste livro;

19E se alguém tirar das palavras do livro desta profecia, Deus tirará sua parte do livro da vida, e da cidade santa, e das coisas que estão escritas neste livro.

20Aquele que dá testemunho destas coisas diz: “Certamente logo venho.” Amém! Sim, vem, Senhor Jesus!

21A graça do nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo [seja] com todos vós. Amém!

📖 Chapter study

Summary

John sees the river of the water of life and the tree of life in the New Jerusalem, where God's servants will reign forever, seeing his face. The book ends with warnings against altering its words, the promise that Jesus is coming soon, and a final invitation for whoever is thirsty to come and freely drink the water of life.

Explanation

The tree of life reappearing in the last chapter of the Bible, after having been barred to humanity in Genesis 3 following the fall, forms one of the most beautiful and intentional literary bookends in all of Scripture, showing the Bible as a complete narrative from Eden lost to Eden restored and expanded. The final warning against adding to or taking away words from this book (22:18-19) echoes similar warnings found in Deuteronomy 4:2 concerning the law of Moses, a traditional formula used to protect the integrity of sacred texts in antiquity. The final invitation, 'let the one who is thirsty come; and let whoever wishes take the water of life freely' (22:17), sums up the entire gospel in one simple phrase of open, free invitation, closing the whole Bible not with a threat but with a generous invitation. Today's practical application is that, despite all the intense language of judgment throughout the book, its final message is one of hope, restoration, and an accessible invitation to all who wish to draw near to God.

Fun facts

  • The final warning against adding to or removing words from the book (22:18-19) follows a common literary formula from antiquity, also used in Deuteronomy 4:2 and in treaties and legal codes of the ancient Near East, meant to protect the integrity of documents considered sacred or official.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Apocalipse 22:1This scene draws on the river of the garden of Eden, in Genesis, now inside a city instead of a garden, a way of closing out the biblical story by returning to, and expanding on, how it began.
  2. Apocalipse 22:2Twelve harvests, one per month, and leaves that bring healing are images of a place of continuous abundance and restoration, drawing once again on the same tree from the garden of Eden.
  3. Apocalipse 22:3Saying that “there shall be no more curse” directly reverses the curse placed on humanity in Genesis 3, after the sin in the garden of Eden — the book ends by undoing the problem the Bible begins with.
  4. Apocalipse 22:4Seeing God's face was considered impossible in life, according to Old Testament tradition; the name written on the forehead draws on the same image from chapter 14, in direct contrast with the mark of the beast from chapter 13.
  5. Apocalipse 22:5Repeats almost the same promise from chapter 21 about the absence of night and light coming directly from God, reinforcing this final image of permanent security and brightness.
  6. Apocalipse 22:6The angel confirms the truth of everything shown, echoing the same language from the beginning of the book about a revelation sent by an angel to show things that must “shortly” come to pass.
  7. Apocalipse 22:7This is the sixth of the seven blessings scattered through Revelation, promised to whoever keeps the words of this specific prophecy, tied to the promise of a coming that is near.
  8. Apocalipse 22:8John reaffirms his role as an eyewitness, the same kind of credential used right at the start of the book, and mistakenly tries to worship the angel responsible for this vision.
  9. Apocalipse 22:9Repeats almost word for word the correction already made in chapter 19: angels are fellow servants, not objects of worship — only God deserves this kind of reverence.
  10. Apocalipse 22:10The order not to seal up the words stands in direct contrast to an instruction given to the prophet Daniel, who was told to seal his prophecy because it was for a time far off; here, the time is described as near.
  11. Apocalipse 22:11This is not permission to keep on sinning, but a description of the urgency of the moment: time to change course is running out, with each person described as continuing on the path they are already on.
  12. Apocalipse 22:12Repeats the announcement of a coming that is near, now tied to the idea of reward: each person receiving according to their own deeds, a theme repeated several times throughout the book.
  13. Apocalipse 22:13Repeats the title “Alpha and Omega,” already used in the greeting of chapter 1 and in the promise of chapter 21, closing the book with the same claim about beginning and end.
  14. Apocalipse 22:14The image of washing one's robes draws directly on the scene from chapter 7, about white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb, linking the beginning and end of the book through the same metaphor.
  15. Apocalipse 22:15The list of who is left “without” the city echoes similar lists already seen in chapter 21, reinforcing that the criterion for entry is not social status but conduct.
  16. Apocalipse 22:16These titles repeat the same ones used back in chapters 5 and 2, tying the book's final words to the way Jesus was presented at the start, a sign that the whole book is a single, continuous argument, not disconnected scenes.
  17. Apocalipse 22:17An open, final invitation: the Spirit, the “bride” (the church, an image already developed in chapter 21), and any reader who thirsts can respond “Come,” in one of the book's last images of invitation.
  18. Apocalipse 22:18This closing warning is a common format in ancient authoritative texts, used to protect the exact integrity of a text as it was copied and circulated; similar language already appears in Deuteronomy, at the end of the law of Moses.
  19. Apocalipse 22:19The warning against taking words away from the book mirrors the previous verse's warning against adding anything, forming a pair that protects the integrity of the text exactly as it was written.
  20. Apocalipse 22:20The final word from the one testifying to these things repeats the promise of a coming that is near, and the text answers with a short Aramaic prayer also known from other New Testament letters, “come, Lord Jesus.”
  21. Apocalipse 22:21The book's final sentence, and also the entire Bible's in this translation, is a brief closing blessing, of the same type used to close letters in the New Testament.

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