The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^(A)clothed with ^(B)the sun, with ^(C)the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and ^(D)was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^(E)red dragon, ^(F)with seven heads and ^(G)ten horns, and on his heads ^(H)seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down ^(I)a third of the stars of heaven and ^(J)cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child ^(K)he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, ^(L)one who is to rule^[a] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^(M)caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^(N)1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, ^(O)Michael and ^(P)his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And ^(Q)the great dragon was thrown down, ^(R)that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^(S)the deceiver of the whole world—^(T)he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now ^(U)the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers^[b] has been thrown down, ^(V)who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And ^(W)they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^(X)they loved not their lives ^(Y)even unto death. ¹² Therefore, ^(Z)rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^(AA)woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^(AB)he knows that his time is short!”

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^(AC)the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two ^(AD)wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^(AE)into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^(AF)for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water ^(AG)like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off ^(AH)to make war on the rest of ^(AI)her offspring, ^(AJ)on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ^(AK)the testimony of Jesus. And he stood^[c] on the sand of the sea.

The First Beast

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^(AL)with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^(AM)blasphemous names on its heads. ² And the beast that I saw was ^(AN)like a leopard; its feet were like ^(AO)a bear's, and its mouth was like ^(AP)a lion's mouth. And to it ^(AQ)the dragon gave his power and ^(AR)his throne and great authority. ³ One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^(AS)the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. ⁴ And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^(AT)“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵ And the beast was given ^(AU)a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^(AV)forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,^[d] that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ Also it was allowed ^(AW)to make war on the saints and to conquer them.^[e] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸ and all ^(AX)who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in ^(AY)the book of life of ^(AZ)the Lamb ^(BA)who was slain. ^9 (BB)If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

^(BE)Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

¹¹ Then ^(BF)I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,^[f] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^(BG)whose mortal wound was healed. ^13 (BH)It performs great signs, even ^(BI)making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, ¹⁴ and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of^[g] the beast ^(BJ)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ^(BK)that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not ^(BL)worship the image of the beast ^(BM)to be slain. ¹⁶ Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{[h] (BN)}to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷ so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, ^(BO)the name of the beast or ^(BP)the number of its name. ^18 (BQ)This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number ^(BR)of a man, and his number is 666.^[i]

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and behold, on ^(BS)Mount Zion ^(BT)stood the Lamb, and with him ^(BU)144,000 who ^(BV)had his name and his Father's name written ^(BW)on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven ^(BX)like the roar of many waters and ^(BY)like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of ^(BZ)harpists playing on their harps, ³ and they were singing ^(CA)a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. ^(CB)No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for ^(CC)they are virgins. It is these ^(CD)who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^(CE)firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵ and ^(CF)in their mouth no lie was found, for they are ^(CG)blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

⁶ Then I saw another angel ^(CH)flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to ^(CI)those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. ⁷ And he said with a loud voice, ^(CJ)“Fear God and ^(CK)give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and ^(CL)worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the ^(CM)springs of water.”

⁸ Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^(CN)“Fallen, fallen is ^(CO)Babylon the great, ^(CP)she who made all nations drink ^(CQ)the wine of the passion^[j] of her sexual immorality.”

⁹ And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone ^(CR)worships the beast and its image and receives ^(CS)a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink ^(CT)the wine of God's wrath, ^(CU)poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ^(CV)he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And ^(CW)the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and ^(CX)they have no rest, day or night, these ^(CY)worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

^12 (CZ)Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who ^(DA)keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.^[k]

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ^(DB)Blessed are the dead ^(DC)who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, ^(DD)“that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

¹⁴ Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one ^(DE)like a son of man, ^(DF)with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ And another angel ^(DG)came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^(DH)“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for ^(DI)the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ And another angel came out from the altar, ^(DJ)the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, ^(DK)for its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ^(DL)winepress of the wrath of God. ²⁰ And ^(DM)the winepress was trodden ^(DN)outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as ^(DO)a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.^[l]

The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

15 Then ^(DP)I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, ^(DQ)seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

² And I saw ^(DR)what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those ^(DS)who had conquered the beast and its image and ^(DT)the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass ^(DU)with harps of God in their hands. ³ And they sing ^(DV)the song of Moses, ^(DW)the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,