The Thousand Years
20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand pthe key to the bottomless pit1 and a great chain. 2 And he seized qthe dragon, rthat ancient serpent, who is the sdevil and tSatan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not udeceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw vthrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw wthe souls of those who had been beheaded for the 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 xforeheads or their hands. They came to life and yreigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such zthe second death has no power, but they will be apriests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
The Defeat of Satan
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, bGog and Magog, to cgather them for battle; dtheir number is like the sand of the sea. 9 eAnd they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but ffire came down from heaven2 and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them gwas thrown into the hlake of ifire and sulfur where the beast and jthe false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Judgment Before the Great White Throne
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky kfled away, and lno place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and mbooks were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the nbook of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, oDeath and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 pThen Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The New Heaven and the New Earth
21 Then I saw a qnew heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, rnew Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a sbride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a tloud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place1 of God is with man. uHe will vdwell with them, and wthey will be his people,2 and God himself will be with them as their God.3 4 He will xwipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, y“Write this down, for zthese words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! aI am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the bwater of life cwithout payment. 7 dThe one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my eson. 8 But as for fthe cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the glake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is hthe second death.”
The New Jerusalem
9 Then came one of the iseven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the jBride, the wife of the kLamb.” 10 And he lcarried me away in the Spirit mto a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance nlike a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a ogreat, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and pon the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had qtwelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve rapostles of the Lamb.
15 And the one who spoke with me had a smeasuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.4 Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits5 by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned twith every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has uno need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 vBy its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and wits gates will never be shut by day—and xthere will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But ynothing unclean zwill ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s abook of life.
The River of Life
22 Then the angel1 showed me the briver of the cwater of life, bright as dcrystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the eLamb 2 through the middle of fthe street of the city; also, gon either side of the river, the htree of life2 with its twelve kinds of fruit, iyielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 jNo longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will ksee his face, and lhis name will be on their foreheads. 5 And mnight will be no more. nThey will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will oreign forever and ever.
Jesus Is Coming
6 And he said to me, p“These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of qthe spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants rwhat must soon take place.”
7 “And behold, sI am coming soon. tBlessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, uI fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
10 And he said to me, “Do not vseal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for wthe time is near. 11 xLet the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, yand the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, zbringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 aI am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who bwash their robes,3 cso that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 dOutside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my eangel to testify to you about these things for fthe churches. I am the groot and the descendant of David, the bright hmorning star.”
17 The Spirit and the iBride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And jlet the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone kadds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. lCome, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.4 Amen.
