1. I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the bottomless pit. He also held a large chain in his hand.
2. The angel grabbed the dragon, that old snake who is the devil. The angel tied him up for 1,000 years.
3. Then he threw him into the bottomless pit and closed it and locked it over him. The angel did this so that he could not trick the people of the earth anymore until the 1,000 years were ended. After 1,000 years he must be set free for a short time.
4. Then I saw some thrones and people sitting on them. They had been given the power to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been killed because they were faithful to the truth of Jesus and the message from God. They had not worshiped the beast or his idol. They had not received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or on their hands. They came back to life and ruled with Christ for 1,000 years.
5. (The others that were dead did not live again until the 1,000 years were ended.) This is the first raising of the dead.