God's Word Version, Chapter 22 Verses 18 and 19

Revelation Chapter 22 Verses 18 and 19 (God's Word^TM)

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¹⁸I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy in this book: If anyone adds anything to this, God will strike him with the plagues that are written in this book.¹⁹ If anyone takes away any words from this book of prophecy, God will take away his portion of the tree of life and the holy city that are described in this book.

I warn everyone who hears the WORDS of the PROPHESY in THIS BOOK: if anyone ADDS anything to this, God will STRIKE HIM with THE PLAGUES that are written in THIS BOOK;

If anyone TAKES AWAY any WORDS from THIS BOOK of PROPHESY, God will TAKE AWAY his portion of

THE TREE OF LIFE and
the HOLY CITY, which are described in THIS BOOK.

Moses, like John here in the Revelation, exhorts Israel in a similar manner that they must not ADD or TAKE AWAY from God's commandments (Deuteronomy 4:1-2-8). To ADD anything to God's commandment's or to THIS BOOK, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, implies that a mere human knows more or better than God Himself. That is the height of blasphemy.

Likewise, to TAKE AWAY from God's commandments or THIS BOOK, would negate the "All scripture" part of 2 Timothy 3:16-17. That would imply that only some scripture is inspired by God...how presumptuous, again, of a mere human. Even angels know better than that (verses 8 and 9). Furthermore, there aren't any parts of the Revelation that are optional, for John did what he was told to do (Revelation 1:11). If John was told to keep parts of THIS BOOK optional, then verse 10 doesn't have meaning.

An observation: when churches/pastors/teachers do not teach the whole book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, they are, in essence, TAKING AWAY a part of THIS BOOK (from the congregation, implied). This portion of scripture begins with "I warn everyone who HEARS the WORDS of the PROPHESY in THIS BOOK..". If the HEARERS only get cameos of THIS BOOK, they have had a part of THIS BOOK TAKEN AWAY from them. CAUTION: The whole book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ MUST BE TAUGHT/READ TO THE HEARERS, or that church/pastor/teacher will be missing their part of the TREE OF LIFE, and their "home" in the HOLY CITY (Revelation 21:2) is taken from them too.

A side note: those of us who have written explanations on the verses in THIS BOOK are well aware of these two verses. For this author, knowing these "checks-and-balances" verses are here, caused considered concern before I even began working on this study. In most explanations, the PROPHESY in THIS BOOK has been supported by cross references to Scripture itself. Where differing human views are given, the reader/HEARER must distinguish between views and keep everything true to the Word of God itself. The reader/HEARER is responsible for their own "white robes" that they remain white or righteous.

It is my prayer that the reader will study "the-bolded-and-italicized-words" and take them to heart before even considering the explanations written around them.

GOD'S WORD is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations Bible Society. Quotations are used by permission.

References to the Revelation of Jesus Christ are in bold italics. All other references are in bold only. Return from cross-references by using the BACK button.