And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
Parallel translations
- WEB He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.
- KJV And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
- BSB And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
- NASB The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations;
- NLT To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
To the one who overcomes and keeps Christ's works to the end, he promises authority over the nations. It matters because faithful believers will share in Christ's reign.
Overview
Perseverance in Christ's works to the end marks the true overcomer. The promise of authority over the nations draws on Psalm 2, where the Messiah rules the peoples. Believers are promised a share in Christ's own royal rule.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 30
- Rev 3:21He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.
- Dan 7:27The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole sky, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
- Rev 2:7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God.
- Rev 20:4I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and 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.
- Ps 2:8Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
- Rev 22:5There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
- 1 Jn 5:5Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
- John 6:29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
- Matt 24:13But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.
- Dan 7:22until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
- Rev 2:11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. He who overcomes won’t be harmed by the second death.
- Dan 7:18But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.
- Rom 2:7to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life;
- Rev 3:12He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
- Jas 2:20But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
- Rom 8:37No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
- 1 Jn 3:23This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.
- Rev 2:17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
- Heb 10:38–39But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- 1 Cor 6:3–4Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
- Rev 21:7He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.
- John 8:31–32Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.
- Ps 49:14They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.
- Luke 22:29–30I confer on you a kingdom, even as my Father conferred on me,
- Luke 8:13–15Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation.
- Matt 19:28Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that you who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on the throne of his glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Heb 3:6but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.
- 1 Jn 2:19They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
- Rev 3:5He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
- 1 Th 3:5For this cause I also, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would have been in vain.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 2:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.