Revelation 20:12

Revelation 20:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
• New International Version (NIV)And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

Context of Revelation 20:12

10The Devil had deceived those people. I saw God throw him into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. That is the lake where he had already thrown the wild animal and the false prophet. They will have a lot of pain in that place, all day and all night for ever. 11Then I saw a great white throne. I saw that God was sitting on it. The earth and the sky rushed away from the place where he sat. There was no longer any place for them. I also saw the people who had died, important people and ordinary people. They were standing in front of the great throne. Then someone opened books to see what was in them. God had written in them all the things that the people had done. Then someone opened another book which is God's book of life. God judged the people who had died. He looked in the books to see what they had done, and he decided what was right. 13The sea brought up all the dead people who were in it. Death and Hades, the place for dead people, brought up all the dead people who were there too. God judged each person. God saw what they had done, and he decided what was right. 14Then God threw Death and Hades into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death for people.

Revelation 20:12 word by word

καὶ εἶδον τοὺς νεκρούς, τοὺς μεγάλους καὶ τοὺς μικρούς, ἑστῶτας ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου, καὶ βιβλία ἠνοίχθησαν. καὶ ἄλλο βιβλίον ἠνοίχθη ὅ ἐστιν τῆς ζωῆς. καὶ ἐκρίθησαν οἱ νεκροὶ ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• I sawὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• the deadνεκρόςnekros · deadG3498
• smallμικρόςmikros mikroteros · smallG3398
• greatμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• standἵστημιhistēmi · to standG2476
• beforeἐνώπιονenōpion · beforeG1799
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• the booksβιβλίονbiblion · scrollG975
• were openedἀνοίγωanoigō · to openG455
• anotherἄλλοςallos · anotherG243
• whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• of lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
• were judgedκρίνωkrinō · to judgeG2919
• out ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• which were writtenγράφωgraphō · to writeG1125
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• according toκατάkata · according toG2596
• theirαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• worksἔργονergon · workG2041

Cross-references for Revelation 20:12

• Revelation 20:11Then I saw a great white throne. I saw that God was sitting on it. The earth and the sky rushed away from the place where he sat. There was no longer any place for them.
• Daniel 12:2Many dead people who lie under the ground will become alive again. Some of them will receive life that continues for ever with God. But other people will receive shame that continues for ever.
• John 5:28Do not be surprised by this. There will be a time when all the dead people will hear the Son's voice.
• John 11:25Jesus said to her, ‘I have authority over death. I raise dead people, and I give people true life. Anyone who believes in me will live. Even if that person dies, he will continue to live.
• Acts 24:15I also trust God like these men do. Like them, I believe that people will become alive again after death. God will do this for all people, both good people and bad people.
• 1 Corinthians 15:21All people die because of what one man did. That was Adam. And it is because of another man that people can rise up after death to a new life. That is Christ.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:15We are telling you the message that the Lord has given to us. This is what will happen when the Lord returns. Those of us who are still alive will not go to meet the Lord first. We will not go before those people who have already died.
• Revelation 19:5Then a voice spoke from the throne. It said, ‘All of you who are God's servants, praise our God! All of you who respect God's power, worship him! Important people and ordinary people should worship him!’
• Romans 14:10So then, if you eat only vegetables, you must not judge other believers. Also, if you eat anything, you must not think that you are better than other believers. Remember that all of us will have to stand in front of God. He will decide whether we have done what is right or wrong.
• 1 Corinthians 4:5So you should not decide about things before the time is right. Wait until the Lord comes again. He will show everything clearly. He will show the bad things that people have done secretly. He will show the secret purpose of people's thoughts. Then God will praise each person in a way that is right for them.
• 2 Corinthians 5:10Because all of us must go and stand in front of Christ as our judge. He will decide about the things that we have done during our lives here on earth. Whether we have done good things or bad things, we will receive what is right for us.
• Daniel 7:10A river of fire poured out from the place where he was sitting. Thousands of servants were ready to do whatever he wanted. Many more thousands stood around, ready to serve him. Then the meeting of the court began. Someone opened the books to see what was in them.
• Revelation 3:5Everyone who wins against Satan will wear white clothes like they do. I will never remove their names from God's book of life. I will say clearly to my Father and his angels that those people belong to me.
• Revelation 13:8Nearly all the people who live on the earth will worship the wild animal. But those people whose names are in the Lamb's book of life will not worship it. The Lamb wrote the names of these believers in his book from the beginning of the world. He is the Lamb that people killed as a sacrifice.
• Revelation 17:8This animal was once alive, but it is not alive now. Soon it will come up out of the deep hole again but then God will destroy it completely. All these things will surprise many people who live on the earth. Those are the people whose names are not written in God's book of life from the beginning of the world. They will be surprised to see the animal that was alive at one time. It is not alive now, but it will soon appear again.
• Revelation 21:27But nothing that is bad or unclean will ever go in there. Nobody who does anything that God hates will go into the city. Nobody who tells lies will go in. Only those people with their names written in the Lamb's book of life can go in there.

Commentaries on Revelation 20:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12The dead, small and great - All ranks, degrees, and conditions of men. This description seems to refer to Daniel 7:9, Daniel 7:10. And the books were opened - See Daniel 12:1. "Rab. Jehuda said: All the actions of men, whether good or bad, are written in a book, and of all they shall give account." - Sohar Gen., fol. 79, col. 298. "How careful should men be to shun vice, and to act uprightly before the holy blessed God, seeing there are so many which go…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12And I saw the dead, small and great - All the dead - for this language would express that - the whole race being composed of the “small and great.” Thus, in other language, the same idea might be expressed by saying, the young and old; the rich and poor; the bond and free; the sick and well; the happy and the unhappy; the righteous and the wicked; for all the human family might, in these respects, be considered as thus divided. The fair meaning in this…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-15Verses 11-15 After the events just foretold, the end will speedily come; and there is no mention of any thing else, before the appearing of Christ to judge the world. This will be the great day: the Judge, the Lord Jesus Christ, will then put on majesty and terror. The persons to be judged are the dead, small and great; young and old, low and high, poor and rich. None are so mean, but they have some talents to account for; and none so great, as to avoid…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12books were opened: See Psalm 56:8; Daniel 7:10. The Book of Life contains the names of faithful people who have experienced God's saving power (Malachi 3:16; see Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:15). They are likely the same ones who experience the first resurrection (Revelation 20:5–6). the dead were judged: The works of both the redeemed and the unredeemed will be judged (see Revelation 22:12; Matthew 16:27; 25:31–46).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. the dead--"the rest of the dead" who did not share the first resurrection, and those who died during the millennium. small and great--B has "the small and the great." A, Vulgate, Syriac, and Andreas have "the great and the small." The wicked who had died from the time of Adam to Christ's second advent, and all the righteous and wicked who had died during and after the millennium, shall then have their eternal portion assigned to them. The godly who…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 20:12

• Book
• Death
• Judgment
• Millennium
• Vision

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Book of Life
• Judgment, The final
• Seal
• Dead
• Eschatology of the Old Testament
• Geba
• Immortal; Immortality
• Print; Printing; Printed

Commentaries on Revelation 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings