Revelation 11-13

New Life Version

The House of God

11 I was given a stick that is used to see how big things are. Someone said, “Go up to the house of God and find out how big it is. Find out about the altar also. See how many people are worshiping. ² Do not find out about the porch of the house of God. It has been given over to the nations who do not know God. They will walk over all the Holy City to wreck it for forty-two months. ³ I will give power to my two men who tell what they know. They will speak for God for 1,260 days (forty-two months). They will be dressed in clothes made from the hair of animals.”

The Two Men Who Tell What They Know

⁴ These two men who tell what they know are the two olive trees and the two lights that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ If anyone hates them and tries to hurt them, fire comes out of the mouths of these two men. The fire kills those who try to hurt them. ⁶ They have power to shut up the sky. During the time they speak for God, there will be no rain. They have power to change all waters into blood. They can send every kind of trouble to the earth whenever they want to.

The Death of the Two Men Who Speak for God

⁷ When they have finished speaking for God, the wild animal will make war with them. It will come up out of the hole without a bottom. This wild animal will have power over them and kill them. ⁸ Their dead bodies will lie in the street of Jerusalem. It is where their Lord was nailed to a cross. The city is sometimes called Sodom and Egypt. ⁹ For three-and-one-half days those from every people and from every family and from every language and from every nation will look at their dead bodies. People will not allow the dead bodies of these two men to be put in a grave. ¹⁰ Those who are living on the earth will be happy because of the death of these two men. They will do things to show they are happy. They will send gifts to each other. They will do this because these two men brought much trouble and suffering to the people of the earth.

The Two Men Come to Life Again

¹¹ After three-and-one-half days, life from God came into them again. They stood on their feet. Those who saw them were very much afraid.

¹² Then the two men who told what they knew heard a loud voice from heaven. It said, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud. All those who hated them watched them go. ¹³ At the same time the earth shook. One-tenth part of the buildings of the city fell down. Seven thousand people were killed. The rest of the people were afraid and gave honor to the God of heaven.

¹⁴ The second time of trouble is past. But look, the third time of trouble is coming soon.

The Seventh Horn—Worship in Heaven

¹⁵ The seventh angel blew his horn. There were loud voices in heaven saying, “The nations of the world have become the holy nation of our Lord and of His Christ. He will be the Leader forever.” ¹⁶ Then the twenty-four leaders who sat on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God. ¹⁷ They said, “All-powerful Lord God, the One Who is and Who was and Who is to come, we thank You because You are using Your great power and have become Leader. ¹⁸ The people who do not know God have become angry with You. Now it is time for You to be angry with them. It is time for the dead to stand before You and to be judged. It is time for the servants You own who are the early preachers and those who belong to You to get the reward that is coming to them. It is time for the important people and those not important who honor Your name to get the pay that is coming to them. It is time to destroy those who have made every kind of trouble on the earth.”

¹⁹ God’s house in heaven was opened. The special box which held the Old Way of Worship was seen in the house of God. There was lightning and thunder and noise. The earth shook and large hail stones fell.

The Woman and the Dragon

12 Something very special was seen in heaven. A woman was there dressed with the sun. The moon was under her feet. A crown with twelve stars in it was on her head. ² She was about to become a mother. She cried out with pain waiting for the child to be born. ³ Something else special was seen in heaven. A large dragon was there. It was red and had seven heads and ten horns. There was a crown on each head. ⁴ With his tail he pulled one-third part of the stars out of heaven. He threw them down to the earth. This dragon stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth to her child. He was waiting to eat her child as soon as it was born. ⁵ Then the woman gave birth to a son. He is to be the leader of the world using a piece of iron. But this child was taken away to God and His throne. ⁶ The woman ran away into the desert. God had made the place ready for her. He will care for her there 1,260 days.

War in Heaven

⁷ Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against this dragon. This animal and his angels fought back. ⁸ But the dragon was not strong enough to win. There was no more room in heaven for them. ⁹ The dragon was thrown down to earth from heaven. This animal is the old snake. He is also called the Devil or Satan. He is the one who has fooled the whole world. He was thrown down to earth and his angels were thrown down with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now God has saved from the punishment of sin! God’s power as King has come! God’s holy nation has come! God’s Christ is here with power! The one who spoke against our Christian brothers has been thrown down to earth. He stood before God speaking against them day and night. ¹¹ They had power over him and won because of the blood of the Lamb and by telling what He had done for them. They did not love their lives but were willing to die. ¹² For this reason, O heavens and you who are there, be full of joy. It is bad for you, O earth and sea. For the devil has come down to you. He is very angry because he knows he has only a short time.”

War on Earth

¹³ When the dragon which is the devil saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to hunt for the woman who had given birth to the boy baby. ¹⁴ The woman was given two wings like the wings of a very large bird so she could fly to her place in the desert. She was to be cared for there and kept safe from the snake, which is the devil, for three-and one-half years. ¹⁵ Then the snake spit water from his mouth so the woman might be carried away with a flood. ¹⁶ The earth helped the woman by opening its mouth. It drank in the flood of water that this dragon spit from his mouth. ¹⁷ This dragon was very angry with the woman. He went off to fight with the rest of her children. They are the ones who obey the Laws of God and are faithful to the teachings of Jesus.

The Two Animals—the First One from the Sea

13 I stood on the sand by the sea-shore. There I saw a wild animal coming up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns with a crown on each horn. There were names on each head that spoke bad words against God. ² The wild animal I saw was covered with spots. It had feet like those of a bear. It had a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave this wild animal his own power and his own throne as king. The wild animal was given much power. ³ One of the heads of the wild animal looked as if it had been killed. But the bad cut given to kill him was healed. The whole world was surprised and wondered about this, and they followed after the wild animal. ⁴ They worshiped the dragon for giving this wild animal such power. And they worshiped this wild animal. They said, “Who is like this wild animal? Who can fight against it?”

⁵ The animal was given a mouth which spoke words full of pride and it spoke very bad things against the Lord. It was given much power for forty-two months. ⁶ And it opened its mouth speaking very bad things against God. It spoke against God’s name and His house and against those living in heaven. ⁷ It was allowed to fight against the people who belong to God, and it had power to win over them. It had power over every family and every group of people and over people of every language and every nation. ⁸ Every person on the earth from the beginning of the world whose name has not been written in the book of life of the Lamb Who was killed will worship this animal.

⁹ You have ears! Then listen. ¹⁰ Whoever is to be tied and held will be held. Whoever kills with a sword must himself be killed with a sword. Now is when God’s people must have faith and not give up.

The Second Animal—from the Land

¹¹ Then I saw another wild animal coming out of the earth. He had two horns like those of a lamb. His voice was like that of the dragon. ¹² He used the power of the first wild animal who was there with him. He made all the people on earth worship the first wild animal who had received the bad cut to kill him but was healed. ¹³ The second wild animal did great powerful works. It spoke and made those who did not worship the first wild animal to be killed. ¹⁴ He fooled the men of the earth by doing powerful works. He did these things in front of the first wild animal. He told those who live on the earth to make a god that looks like the first wild animal. The first wild animal was the one that was cut by the sword but lived. ¹⁵ The second wild animal was given power to give life to the false god. This false god was the one that was made to look like the first wild animal. It was given power to talk. All those who did not worship it would die. ¹⁶ The second wild animal made every person have a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. It was given to important men and to those not important, to rich men and poor men, to those who are free and to those who are servants. ¹⁷ No one could buy or sell anything unless he had the mark on him. This mark was the name of the first wild animal or another way to write his name. ¹⁸ This is wisdom. Let the person who has good understanding learn the meaning of the other way to write the name of the first wild animal. This name is a man’s name. It is 666.