< Revelation 20 >
1 I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the deep dark pit, and he was carrying a large chain in his hand. (Abyssos )
2 He seized the dragon. That dragon is the ancient serpent, the devil, that is, Satan. The angel bound him with the chain. That chain could not be loosed {[No one could loose] that chain} for 1,000 years.
3 The angel threw him into the deep dark pit. He shut [the door of the pit], locked it, and sealed it [to prevent anyone from opening it]. He did that in order that Satan might no longer deceive [the people of the] nations [MTY], until those 1,000 years are ended. After that [time], Satan must be released {[God/God’s angel] must release Satan} for a short time [in order that he can do what God has planned]. (Abyssos )
4 I saw thrones on which people were sitting. [They were given] {[God] gave those people} [authority] to judge [other people]. I also saw the souls [of people] whose heads had been {whose heads [others] had} cut off because of [their telling people about] Jesus and declaring God’s message. They were people who refused to worship the beast or its image, and who did not allow [the beast’s agents] to put the beast’s mark on them, either on their foreheads or on their hands. They became alive again, and they ruled with Christ [during those] 1,000 years.
5 They were the ones who lived again the first time [that God caused dead people] to live again. The rest of [the believers who] had died did not live again until after those 1,000 years.
6 ([God] will be pleased with/[How] happy will be) those who live again that first time. God will [consider] them holy. They will not die [PRS] a second time. Instead, they will be priests [who serve] God and Christ, and they will rule with [Christ] during those 1,000 years.
7 When the 1,000 years are ended, Satan will be released {[God’s angel] will release Satan} from [the deep pit] in which he was imprisoned.
8 He will go out to deceive [rebellious] people in nations [IDM] all over the earth. [These are the nations that the prophet Ezekiel called] Gog and Magog. Satan will gather them to fight against [God’s people]. There will be [so many of them fighting against God’s people that no one will be able to count them] [SIM], just like [no one can count the grains of] sand on the ocean shore.
9 They will march over the whole earth and surround the camp of God’s people [in Jerusalem], the city that [God] loves. Then [God will send] fire down from heaven, and it will burn them up.
10 The devil, who had deceived those people, will be thrown {[God’s angel] will throw the devil, who had deceived those people} into the lake of burning sulfur. [This is the same lake] into which both the beast and the false prophet had been [thrown] {[he] had [thrown] both the beast and the false prophet}. [As a result], they will continually suffer severely forever. (aiōn , Limnē Pyr )
11 Then I saw a huge white throne on which [God] was sitting. He [was so awesome that] the earth and the sky disappeared from his presence completely; they were completely destroyed {[God] completely destroyed them}.
12 I saw that the people who had died [but now lived again] were standing in front of the throne. [They included people of] every social status! The books [in which God records what people do] were opened {[God/God’s angel] opened the books [in which God records what people do]}. Another book was opened {[He] opened another book}, which is [called the Book] of Life, [in which God has written the names of people who have eternal life]. [God] judged the people who had died [and now lived again] according to what they had done, just like [he] had recorded it in the books.
13 [The people whose bodies were buried in the] sea [became alive again in order to stand before God’s throne]. Everyone who had been buried on the land (OR, Every person who was waiting in the place where dead people stay) [became alive again, in order to stand before the throne]. [God] judged each one of them according to what each one had done. (Hadēs )
14 All the unbelievers [PRS, MTY] —those who had been in the place where they waited after they died— [were thrown into the burning lake]. The burning lake is [the place in which people] die the second time. (Hadēs , Limnē Pyr )
15 The people whose [names] [MTY] are not in the book, the one [where God] has written [the names of people who] have [eternal] life, [were also thrown] {([God/God’s angel]) threw them also} [into the lake] of fire. (Limnē Pyr )