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Revelation 20

1I saw an angel coming down from heaven, with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3He threw him into the abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he would no longer mislead the nations until the thousand years were completed. After these things he must be released for a little time.

4I saw thrones, and those seated on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They came to life and reigned with the Messiah for a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of the Messiah, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

7When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will go out to mislead the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for war. Their number is like the sand of the sea. 9They advanced over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. Fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10The devil who misled them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet also are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

11I saw a great white throne and the one seated on it. From his face earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. 12I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Scrolls were opened, and another scroll was opened, the scroll of life. The dead were judged from what was written in the scrolls, according to their deeds. 13The sea gave up the dead in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead in them. Each was judged according to their deeds. 14Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15If anyone was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.

Translation notes 4

20:1–6 — Thousand years and resurrection. The stated period, binding, release, coming to life, and reign are retained. The text does not name a later millennial school or explain here how this vision's chronology relates to earlier visions. “Authority to judge” interprets the granting of judgment; rule or a favorable verdict are related proposals. The enthroned figures and the witnesses may be the same group described in stages. The second “and those” may further describe the martyrs or include other faithful people.

20:4–6 — Life and Messiah. “Came to life” uses the same Greek verb as the statement about the rest of the dead in verse 5. The referent of “this is the first resurrection” is the faithful group's life and reign, not the intervening statement that the rest did not live. “Messiah” marks the royal title in this passage.

20:7–10 — Gog, Magog, and torment. Gog and Magog draw on Ezekiel 38–39, here naming the hostile nations. No modern nation is substituted. The final torment statement has a plural subject, including the devil, beast, and false prophet; its duration is not softened.

20:12–15 — Deeds, Hades, and the second death. The judgment according to deeds and the book of life are both explicit. The Greek words for the written records overlap; “scrolls” describes their form and “book of life” retains the recurring title. The KJV uses “hell” for Hades here, while the NET uses “Hades.” Hades gives up its dead and is itself thrown into the lake of fire; collapsing the two into one English term obscures that distinction. The lake is explicitly identified as the second death.