Revelation 20

1I saw an angel descending from heaven. He held the key to the bottomless abyss. He carried a massive iron chain in his hand.

2The angel seized the dragon, that ancient serpent! He is the devil, Satan himself. The angel bound him securely for one thousand years.

3He hurled the dragon headfirst into the deep abyss! He shut the hatch and locked it with a seal. Satan could no longer deceive the nations for one thousand years. Afterward, he must be released for a short time.

4I saw royal thrones, and rulers sat upon them. God gave them divine authority to execute judgment! I saw the souls of believers executed for their faith. Enemies had beheaded them for testifying about Jesus and God's word. They refused to worship the beast or its statue. They rejected its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came back to life and ruled with Christ for one thousand years!

5The rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years ended. This is the glorious first resurrection!

6Blessed and holy are those sharing in this first resurrection! The second death holds zero power over them. They will serve as priests of God and of Christ! They will reign alongside Him for one thousand years.

7When the thousand years end, God will release Satan. He will crawl out of his subterranean prison.

8He will deceive the nations across the earth, Gog and Magog. Satan will gather them together for an all-out battle. Their soldiers will outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore!

9They marched across the earth and surrounded the camp of God's saints. They encircled the beloved holy city of Jerusalem. Suddenly, blazing fire rained down from heaven and consumed them!

10God threw the devil into the lake of burning sulfur! The beast and false prophet were already burning there. They will suffer agonizing torment day and night forever and ever!

11I saw a magnificent Great White Throne. I saw God seated in royal majesty upon it. The earth and sky vanished before His blazing face! No place was found for them anywhere.

12I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God. Angels unrolled the heavenly record books before the throne. Another scroll was opened: the Lamb's Book of Life! God judged the dead according to their recorded deeds.

13The sea gave up the dead bodies inside it. Death and the Grave surrendered the dead within them. God judged every single person according to what they did.

14Then God threw Death and the Grave into the lake of fire! This lake of fire is the final, second death.

15Anyone whose name was missing from the Book of Life: God threw them straight into the lake of fire!