⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, ^(A)he was lifted up, and ^(B)a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, ^(C)two ^(D)men stood by them in ^(E)white robes, ¹¹ and said, ^(F)“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ^(G)will ^(H)come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

The Coming of the Lord

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, ^(A)that you may not grieve as others do ^(B)who have no hope. ¹⁴ For ^(C)since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him ^(D)those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you ^(E)by a word from the Lord,^[a] that ^(F)we who are alive, who are left until ^(G)the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For ^(H)the Lord himself will descend ^(I)from heaven ^(J)with a cry of command, with the voice of ^(K)an archangel, and ^(L)with the sound of the trumpet of God. And ^(M)the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be ^(N)caught up together with them ^(O)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so ^(P)we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

The Thousand Years

20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, ^(A)holding in his hand the key to ^(B)the bottomless pit^[a] and a great chain. ² And he seized ^(C)the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and ^(D)bound him for a thousand years, ³ and threw him into ^(E)the pit, and shut it and ^(F)sealed it over him, so that ^(G)he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

⁴ Then I saw ^(H)thrones, and ^(I)seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw ^(J)the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those ^(K)who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. ^(L)They came to life and ^(M)reigned 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 (N)Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such ^(O)the second death has no power, but they will be ^(P)priests of God and of Christ, and they ^(Q)will reign with him for a thousand years.

The Defeat of Satan

⁷ And when the thousand years are ended, ^(R)Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will come out ^(S)to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, ^(T)Gog and Magog, ^(U)to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. ⁹ And ^(V)they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded ^(W)the camp of the saints and ^(X)the beloved city, but ^(Y)fire came down from heaven^[b] and consumed them, ¹⁰ and the devil ^(Z)who had deceived them was ^(AA)thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where ^(AB)the beast and the 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 ^(AC)earth and sky fled away, and ^(AD)no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and ^(AE)books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is ^(AF)the book of life. And ^(AG)the dead were judged by what was written in the books, ^(AH)according to what they had done. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, ^(AI)Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, ^(AJ)according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then ^(AK)Death and Hades ^(AL)were thrown into the lake of fire. This is ^(AM)the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, ^(AN)he was thrown into the lake of fire.