20
“They Came Back to Life and Reigned with the Messiah for a Thousand Years”
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven+ with the key to the Abyss and a thick+ chain in his hand.
2 He grabbed hold of the dragon—that ancient serpent, who is also called “the devil,” or “Satan”+—and chained him up for a thousand years.
3 The angel+ threw him into the Abyss and locked the cover+ and marked it with a seal,+ to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were over. (After the thousand years+ he must be set free for a short time.)+
4 Then I saw thrones, and those following the rider on the white horse+ sat down on them.+ To them was granted authority to rule+ and judge.+ I also saw+ the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about+ Jesus and for proclaiming+ the word of God. They had refused to worship the beast or its+ image and to receive its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came back to life and reigned with the Messiah for a thousand years.
5 (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy are those who take part in the first resurrection. Over them the second death will have no power; they will serve God and the Messiah as priests+ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be set free from his prison
8 and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog,+ to gather them together for war—a vast army, as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.+
9 They will+ march all across the land+ and encircle the fortified camp+ where the Lord’s holy people+ dwell,+ the beloved city,+ but fire will come down from heaven+ and consume them.
10 Then the devil, who had deceived them, will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, joining+ the beast and the false prophet; they will be tormented there+ day and night forever into the ages of the ages.
“Books Were Opened”
11 Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it. At his presence+ the earth+ and the sky+ fled,+ but no place was found for them.+
12 I also saw the dead, both the powerful and the lowly, standing before the throne. Books+ were opened, and then, too,+ another book, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged on the basis of what was recorded in the books, according to their deeds.
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Sheol+ gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to his deeds.
14 Then Death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This+ is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 If someone’s name was not found written indeed+ in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.