First ReadingRevelation 20:1-4, 11—21:2
From the Book of Revelation
1I saw an angel coming down out of heaven,having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.2He seized the dragon,the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan,who deceives the whole inhabited earth,and bound him for a thousand years,3and 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.
4I saw thrones, and they sat on them,and judgment was given to them.I saw the souls of thosewho had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesusand for the word of God,and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image,and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand.They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
verses 5–10 are not read11I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it,from whose face the earth and the sky fled away.There was found no place for them.12I saw the dead, the great and the small,standing before the throne,and they opened books.Another book was opened, which is the book of life.The dead were judged out of the thingswhich were written in the books,according to their works.13The sea gave up the dead who were in it.Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them.They were judged, each one according to his works.14Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.This is the second death, the lake of fire.15If anyone was not found written in the book of life,he was cast into the lake of fire.
1I saw a new heaven and a new earth,for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away,and the sea is no more.2I saw the holy city,New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.