World English Bible · Under Rome
Revelation 20
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I saw coming down out of , having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, the old , who is the devil and , who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time. I saw , and they sat on them, and was given to them. I saw the of those who had been beheaded for the of and for the word of , and such as didn't nor his , and didn't receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of didn't live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first . and is he who has part in the first . Over these, the second has no , but they will be priests of and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years. And after the thousand years, will be released from his prison and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, and , to gather them together to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up over the width of the earth and surrounded the camp of and the beloved city. came down out of from and devoured them. who deceived them was thrown into the lake of and sulfur, where and the false are also. They will be tormented day and night and ever. I saw a great white and him who sat on it, from whose the earth and fled away. There was found no place for them. I saw , the great and the small, standing before , and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the . were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. The sea gave up who were in it. and gave up who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. and were thrown into the lake of . This is the second , the lake of . If anyone was not found written in the , he was cast into the lake of .
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
Christians read this chapter differently
- What is the thousand years of Revelation 20? · Revelation 20:1-6
- What happens to those who are finally lost? · Revelation 20:11-15
Every view at its strongest, with who holds it and what it has to answer for.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.