13 And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.(A) It had ten horns and seven heads. On its horns were ten crowns,[a](B) and on its heads were blasphemous names.[b](C) The beast I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth.(D) The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority. One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed.

The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.(E) They worshiped the dragon(F) because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast?(G) Who is able to wage war against it?”

The beast was given a mouth to utter boasts and blasphemies.(H) It was allowed to exercise authority[c][d] for forty-two months.(I) It began to speak[e] blasphemies against God: to blaspheme his name and his dwelling—those who dwell in heaven. And it was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them.(J) It was also given authority(K) over every tribe, people, language, and nation.(L) All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book[f] of life(M) of the Lamb who was slaughtered.[g](N)

If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.(O)

10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
into captivity he goes.
If anyone is to be killed[h] with a sword,
with a sword he will be killed.(P)

This calls for endurance[i] and faithfulness from the saints.(Q)

The Beast from the Earth

11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb,[j](R) but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 It also performs great signs,(S) even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people.(T) 14 It deceives those who live on the earth(U) because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast,(V) telling those who live on the earth to make an image[k] of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 It was permitted to give breath[l] to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.(W) 16 And it makes everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,(X) 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.

18 This calls for wisdom:[m](Y) Let the one who has understanding calculate[n] the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.[o]

Footnotes

  1. 13:1 Or diadems
  2. 13:1 Other mss read heads was a blasphemous name
  3. 13:5 Other mss read to wage war
  4. 13:5 Or to rule
  5. 13:6 Or He opened his mouth in
  6. 13:8 Or scroll
  7. 13:8 Or written in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered from the foundation of the world
  8. 13:10 Other mss read anyone kills
  9. 13:10 Or Here is the perseverance
  10. 13:11 Or ram
  11. 13:14 Or a statue, or a likeness
  12. 13:15 Or a spirit, or life
  13. 13:18 Or Here is wisdom
  14. 13:18 Or count, or figure out
  15. 13:18 Other Gk mss read 616

The First Beast from the Sea

13 And I saw coming up out of the sea a beast that had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns ten royal headbands,[a] and on its heads a blasphemous name.[b] And the beast that I saw was similar to a leopard, and its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority. And one of its heads appeared as though slaughtered to death, and its fatal wound[c] had been healed. And the whole earth was astonished and followed after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to make war with him?

And a mouth was given to him speaking great things and blasphemies, and authority to act was given to him for forty-two months. And he opened his mouth for blasphemies toward God, to blaspheme his name and his dwelling, those who live in heaven. And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given to him over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name is not written[d] from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered. If anyone has an ear, let him hear!

10 If anyone is going into captivity, into captivity he goes.
If anyone is to be killed by the sword, by the sword he is to be killed.

Here is the patient endurance and the faith of the saints.

The Second Beast from the Earth

11 And I saw another beast coming up from the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he was speaking like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast on behalf of him, and he causes the earth and those who live in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound had been healed[e]. 13 And he performs great signs, so that he even causes fire from heaven to come down to the earth before people. 14 And he deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it has been granted to him to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who has the wound of the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was given to him to put breath into the image of the beast, in order that the image of the beast both spoke and caused that all those, unless they worshiped the image of the beast, should be killed. 16 And he causes all people, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, that they give them a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and that no one was able to buy or to sell except the one who had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom: the one who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number,[f] and his number is six hundred sixty-six.[g]

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 13:1 Or “ten diadem crowns”
  2. Revelation 13:1 Some manuscripts read “blasphemous names”
  3. Revelation 13:3 Literally “wound of death”
  4. Revelation 13:8 Literally “of whom his name is not written”
  5. Revelation 13:12 Literally “of whom the wound of his death had been healed”
  6. Revelation 13:18 Or “it is the number of a man”
  7. Revelation 13:18 A few significant manuscripts read “six hundred sixteen”