Then I saw an
angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a
heavy chain.
He seized the
dragon, that ancient serpent---that is, the Devil, or Satan---and chained him
up for a thousand years.
The angel
threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not
deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that he
must be set loose for a little while.
Then I saw
thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw
the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth
that Jesus revealed and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or
its image, nor had they received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or
their hands. They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand
years.
(The rest of
the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the
first raising of the dead.
Happy and
greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead.
The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years.
After the
thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison,
and he will
go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and
Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of
sand on the seashore.
They spread
out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he
loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them.
Then the
Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where
the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented
day and night forever and ever.
Then I saw a
great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his
presence and were seen no more.
And I saw the
dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and
then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged
according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
Then the sea
gave up its dead. Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they
held. And all were judged according to what they had done.
Then death
and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire
is the second death.)
Those who did
not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake
of fire.
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