⁷ And that same word of God is keeping the skies and the earth that we have now. They are being kept to be destroyed by fire. They are kept for the day of judgment and the destruction of all people who are against God.

⁸ But don’t forget this one thing, dear friends: To the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not being slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change their ways and stop sinning.

¹⁰ But the day when the Lord comes again will surprise everyone like the coming of a thief. The sky will disappear with a loud noise. Everything in the sky will be destroyed with fire. And the earth and everything in it will be burned up.^{[a] 11} Everything will be destroyed in this way. So what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and devoted to God. ¹² You should be looking forward to the day of God, wanting more than anything else for it to come soon. When it comes, the sky will be destroyed with fire, and everything in the sky will melt with heat.

¹⁰ God also said,

The Defeat of Satan

⁷ When the 1000 years are ended, Satan will be made free from his prison. ⁸ He will go out to trick the nations in all the earth, the nations known as Gog and Magog. Satan will gather the people for battle. There will be more people than anyone can count, like sand on the seashore.

⁹ I saw Satan’s army march across the earth and gather around the camp of God’s people and the city that God loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed Satan’s army. ¹⁰ And he (the one who tricked these people) was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the beast and the false prophet. There they would be tortured day and night forever and ever.

People of the World Are Judged

¹¹ Then I saw a large white throne. I saw the one who was sitting on the throne. Earth and sky ran away from him and disappeared. ¹² And I saw those who had died, great and small, standing before the throne. Some books were opened. And another book was opened—the book of life. The people were judged by what they had done, which is written in the books.

¹³ The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. All these people were judged by what they had done. ¹⁴ And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.