^3 (A)No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the ^[a](B)apostasy comes first, and the ^(C)man of lawlessness is revealed, the ^(D)son of destruction, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above ^[b](E)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^(F)displaying himself as being God.

⁹ that is, the one whose ^[a]coming is in accord with the activity of ^(A)Satan, with all power and false ^[b](B)signs and wonders, ¹⁰ and with ^[c]all the deception of wickedness for ^(C)those who perish, because they did not accept the love of ^(D)the truth so as to be saved. ¹¹ For this reason ^(E)God ^[d]will send upon them ^[e]a ^(F)deluding influence so that they will believe ^[f]what is false,

The Beast from the Sea

13 And the dragon stood on the sand of the ^[a]seashore.

Then I saw a ^(A)beast coming up out of the sea, having ^(B)ten horns and ^(C)seven heads, and on his horns were ^(D)ten crowns, and on his heads were ^(E)blasphemous names. ² And the beast that I saw was ^(F)like a leopard, and his feet were like those of ^(G)a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of ^(H)a lion. And the ^(I)dragon gave him his power and his ^(J)throne, and great authority. ³ I saw one of his heads as if it had been ^[b]fatally wounded, and his ^(K)fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth ^(L)was amazed and followed after the beast; ⁴ they worshiped the ^(M)dragon because he ^(N)gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “^(O)Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” ⁵ A mouth was given to him ^(P)speaking ^[c]arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for ^(Q)forty-two months was given to him. ⁶ And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, ^(R)those who dwell in heaven.

⁷ It was also given to him to ^(S)make war with the ^[d]saints and to overcome them, and authority was given to him over ^(T)every tribe, people, language, and nation. ⁸ All who ^(U)live on the earth will worship him, everyone ^(V)whose name has not been ^[e]written ^(W)since the foundation of the world in the ^(X)book of life of ^(Y)the Lamb who has been slaughtered. ^9 (Z)If anyone has an ear, let him hear. ^10 (AA)If anyone ^[f]is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; ^(AB)if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is ^(AC)the ^[g]perseverance and the faith of the ^[h]saints.

The Beast from the Earth

¹¹ Then ^(AD)I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had ^(AE)two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a ^(AF)dragon. ¹² He ^(AG)exercises all the authority of the first beast ^[i](AH)in his presence. And he makes ^(AI)the earth and those who live on it ^(AJ)worship the first beast, whose ^(AK)fatal wound was healed. ¹³ He ^(AL)performs great signs, so that he even makes ^(AM)fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the presence of people. ¹⁴ And he ^(AN)deceives ^(AO)those who live on the earth because of ^(AP)the signs which it was given him to perform ^[j](AQ)in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the ^(AR)wound of the sword and has come to life. ¹⁵ And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even ^[k]speak and cause ^(AS)all who do not ^(AT)worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ And he causes all, ^(AU)the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, ^[l]to be given a ^(AV)mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the ^(AW)mark, either ^(AX)the name of the beast or ^(AY)the number of his name. ^18 (AZ)Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that ^(BA)of a ^[m]man; and his number is ^[n]six hundred and sixty-six.

¹⁸ Children, ^(A)it is the last hour; and just as you heard that ^(B)antichrist is coming, ^(C)even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.

³ and every spirit that ^(A)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the ^(B)antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and ^(C)now it is already in the world.