Revelation 20

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

An angel descends from heaven with a great chain and a key to the Abyss, seizes Satan, and binds him in the locked Abyss for a thousand years. Thrones appear, and seated upon them are those given authority to judge, alongside the resurrected souls of martyrs and those who refused the beast, who reign with Christ for a thousand years while the remaining dead await the end of that period. After the thousand years, Satan is released to deceive the nations of Gog and Magog, gathering a vast army that surrounds the camp of the saints before being consumed by fire from heaven, after which the devil is cast into the lake of fire with the beast and the false prophet. Finally, a great white throne appears, earth and heaven flee, and all the dead stand before the throne to be judged according to their deeds recorded in the books, including the Book of Life. Those whose names are absent, along with Death and Hades, are thrown into the lake of fire, which constitutes the second death.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain. ²He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time. ⁴Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. ⁷When the thousand years are complete, Satan will be released from his prison, ⁸and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore. ⁹And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. ¹⁰And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. ¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. ¹³The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds. ¹⁴Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. ¹⁵And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.