婦人與巨龍

12 在天上出現了一個奇異的景象:有一個婦人,身披太陽,腳踏月亮,頭戴有十二顆星的冠冕。 她懷了孕,正因產痛而呼叫。

這時天上出現了另一個奇異的景象:有一條紅色巨龍出現,牠有七頭十角,每個頭上都戴著冠冕。 牠的尾巴將天上三分之一的星掃落到地上。巨龍站在那正要生產的婦人面前,等著要吃掉她生下來的嬰孩。 婦人生下一個男嬰,就是將來要用鐵杖治理列國的。那男嬰被提到了上帝的寶座那裡, 婦人則逃到曠野,在上帝為她預備的地方安度一千二百六十天。

天上起了戰爭,米迦勒和他的天使出戰巨龍。巨龍和牠的天使極力抵抗, 那巨龍敗下陣來,天上再沒有牠們的立足之地, 牠和牠的天使都一同從天上被摔到地上。巨龍就是那古蛇,又名魔鬼或撒旦,也就是那迷惑全人類的。

10 我聽見天上有大響聲說:「我們上帝的救贖、權能、國度和祂所立的基督的權柄現在來臨了。因為那晝夜不停地在我們上帝面前控告我們弟兄的,已經被摔到地上了。 11 弟兄們是靠著羔羊的血和自己所見證的道戰勝了牠,他們甘願犧牲,視死如歸。 12 因此,諸天和其中的居民都要歡欣雀躍!但大地和海洋有禍了,因為魔鬼知道牠的時日不多了,就怒氣沖沖地下到你們那裡。」

13 巨龍見自己被摔到地上,就迫害那先前產下男嬰的婦人。 14 但那婦人得到一對巨鷹的翅膀,使她能飛到曠野,去上帝為她預備的地方避難,在那裡被照顧三年半。 15 巨龍緊追不捨,張口吐出大量的水,如同江河一般,要沖走那婦人, 16 大地卻幫助她,張口吞了巨龍口中吐出來的大水。 17 巨龍大怒,轉而攻擊她的其他兒女,就是那些堅守上帝的誡命、為耶穌做見證的人。 18 那時巨龍站在海邊的沙地上。

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out (A)in labor and in pain to give birth.

And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, (B)a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. (C)His tail drew a third (D)of the stars of heaven (E)and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood (F)before the woman who was ready to give birth, (G)to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child (H)who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was (I)caught up to God and His throne. Then (J)the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there (K)one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Satan Thrown Out of Heaven

And war broke out in heaven: (L)Michael and his angels fought (M)with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they [a]did not prevail, nor was a place found for [b]them in heaven any longer. So (N)the great dragon was cast out, (O)that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, (P)who deceives the whole world; (Q)he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, (R)“Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, (S)who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And (T)they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, (U)and they did not love their lives to the death. 12 Therefore (V)rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! (W)Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, (X)because he knows that he has a short time.”

The Woman Persecuted

13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted (Y)the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 (Z)But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, (AA)that she might fly (AB)into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished (AC)for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent (AD)spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus [c]Christ.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 12:8 were not strong enough
  2. Revelation 12:8 M him
  3. Revelation 12:17 NU, M omit Christ

The woman and the great red snake

12 A very wonderful thing then appeared in the sky. I saw a woman who was wearing the sun like her clothes. The moon was under her feet. A crown of 12 stars was on her head. She was pregnant. She screamed with pain as she tried to give birth to her baby.

Then another wonderful thing appeared in the sky. It was a very big red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. There was a crown on each head. Its tail beat away a third of the stars from the sky. It threw them down on the earth. Then the dragon stood in front of the woman who would soon give birth to her baby. He was waiting there to eat her child as soon as he was born. The woman gave birth to a son. He was a man who would rule all the nations of the world with strong authority. Then someone quickly took her child away. He went up to God and to his throne. The woman ran away into the wilderness. God had prepared a special place to keep her safe there for 1,260 days.

Then a war started in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his army of angels fought against Michael and his angels.[a] But the dragon and his army were not strong enough to win the battle. They no longer had a place for themselves in heaven. Michael and his angels threw the great dragon out of heaven. The dragon is called the Devil or Satan. He is the snake who has been there since long ago. He tells lies to deceive the whole world. They threw him down to the earth, together with all his angels. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven that said:

‘Now God has saved his people from Satan's power!
God has shown his great power as King.
His Messiah has authority to rule.
Satan said bad things against our people.
He never stopped telling our God that our brothers and sisters are guilty.
But now God has thrown him out of heaven.
11 Our brothers and sisters fought against him and they won.
They could do this because of the death of the Lamb as a sacrifice.
They continued to speak God's true message.
They were also ready to die as God's servants.
That is why they were able to win against Satan.
12 So be happy, everyone who lives in heaven!
But terrible trouble will happen to the earth and the sea.
The Devil has come down to you now and he is very angry.
He knows that he has only a short time to hurt people.’

13 The dragon realized that they had thrown him down to the earth. So he chased after the woman who had given birth to the baby boy. He wanted to catch her. 14 But the woman received the two wings of a very big eagle. Then she could fly to the place in the wilderness that God had prepared for her. In that place God would keep her safe from the big snake. God would take care of her there for a time, times and half a time.[b]

15 Then the dragon poured lots of water out of his mouth like a river. He wanted the river of water to carry the woman away. 16 But a big hole opened in the ground. The river that poured from the dragon's mouth went down into the hole. That helped the woman to escape. 17 As a result, the dragon was very angry with the woman. So he went away to fight a war against her other descendants. Those are the people who obey God's commands. They continue to trust Jesus and to speak his message.[c]

18 After that, the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.

Footnotes

  1. 12:7 The Bible tells us that the angel Michael is a powerful angel. He is a leader of God's angels. See Jude 1:9 and Daniel 10:13,21; 12:1.
  2. 12:14 ‘A time, times and half a time’ may mean three and a half years. This is the same as 1,260 days. See Revelation 11:3; 12:6. It is also the same as 42 months. See Revelation 11:2; 13:5. See also Daniel 12:7.
  3. 12:17 The ‘woman’ is like a picture of God's people. In verses 1-5, perhaps she is Israel's people and the boy that is born is Jesus. In verses 6 and 13-17, she is like all the Christians on the earth. The Devil is the enemy of all Christians.