Revelation 20 | King James Version

King James Version

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

New International Reader’s Version

The thousand years

1 I saw an angel coming down out of heaven. He had the key to the Abyss. In his hand he held a heavy chain. 2 He grabbed the dragon, that old snake. The snake is also called the devil, or Satan. The angel put him in chains for 1,000 years. 3 Then he threw him into the Abyss. He locked it and sealed him in. This was to keep Satan from causing the nations to believe his lies anymore. Satan will be locked away until the 1,000 years are ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. 4 I saw thrones. Those who had been given authority to judge were sitting on them. I also saw the souls of those whose heads had been cut off. They had been killed because they had spoken what was true about Jesus. They had also been killed because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or its statue. They had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came to life and ruled with Christ for 1,000 years. 5 This is the first resurrection. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were ended. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them. They will be priests of God and of Christ. They will rule with him for 1,000 years.

Satan is judged

7 When the 1,000 years are over, Satan will be set free from his prison. 8 He will go out to cause the nations to believe lies. He will gather them from the four corners of the earth. He will bring Gog and Magog together for battle. Their troops are as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the whole earth. They surrounded the place where God’s holy people were camped. It was the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and burned them up. 10 The devil had caused them to believe lies. He was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur. That is where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will all suffer day and night for ever and ever.

The dead are judged

11 I saw a great white throne. And I saw God sitting on it. When the earth and sky saw his face, they ran away. There was no place for them. 12 I saw the dead, great and small, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened. Then another book was opened. It was the book of life. The dead were judged by what they had done. The things they had done were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it. And Death and Hell gave up their dead. Each person was judged by what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hell were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.