Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
This verse comes from one of the most discussed and debated passages in all of Christian Scripture — Revelation 20, which describes a period often called the Millennium, or thousand-year reign. John, writing in the rich symbolic language of apocalyptic literature, pronounces a blessing on those who take part in a "first resurrection" — those who belong to Christ. The "second death" is defined elsewhere in Revelation as the lake of fire, representing final, ultimate separation from God. The promise here is that this second death has no power over them. Instead, they are described as priests — a role that in the ancient world represented direct, intimate access to the presence of God — who will reign with Christ. Christians hold a wide range of views on the specifics of these images, but the core declaration is unmistakable: for those who are God's, death is not the final chapter.
Lord, when death feels final, remind me that it isn't. When this life feels like everything, pull my eyes toward what's coming. I want to live today with the quiet confidence of someone the second death cannot touch. That's the hope I need to hold onto. Amen.
"Blessed." It's one of the most loaded words in the New Testament — and here it's being spoken over people who have come through death. Not around it. Not before it. Through it. Whatever theological tradition you come from, and however you interpret the millennium, the heartbeat of this verse is the same: the worst thing death can do has already been answered. That is not abstract. That is the most concrete hope imaginable for anyone who has stood at a graveside not knowing what to say, or who has sat in a waiting room after a diagnosis that rearranged everything, or who has lain awake at 3 AM wondering whether any of this — the believing, the trying, the hoping — actually means anything. You are not promised that the road will be easy. You are promised that what is coming is beyond what death can take from you. The second death has no power over you. Let that land somewhere deeper than your head. Because if it's true — and this book insists it is — it changes everything about how you live the ordinary Tuesday in front of you.
This verse contrasts a 'first resurrection' with a 'second death' — what is John communicating through that parallel structure, and what does the contrast reveal about the stakes of belonging to God?
How does the promise of reigning with Christ — of a future that death cannot ultimately touch — actually change the way you live your ordinary, non-dramatic daily life right now?
Christians have disagreed for centuries about whether 'a thousand years' is literal or symbolic and what the millennium actually describes. How do you hold theological uncertainty about end-times specifics while still drawing real hope from the core promises?
If this vision of ultimate restoration is true — that every wrong will be righted and death itself will be defeated — how does that change the way you show up for people who are suffering right now, today?
If you genuinely believed in your bones — not just in your head — that the second death had no power over you, what is one thing you would do differently this week?
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
2 Timothy 2:12
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:6
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Revelation 5:10
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Revelation 2:11
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1 Peter 2:9
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
Revelation 14:13
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 20:14
Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) and holy is the person who takes part in the first resurrection; over these the second death [which is eternal separation from God, the lake of fire] has no power or authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with Him a thousand years.
AMP
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
ESV
Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
NASB
Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
NIV
Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
NKJV
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.
NLT
and those involved most blessed, most holy. No second death for them! They're priests of God and Christ; they'll reign with him a thousand years.
MSG