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. ² Then being with child, she cried out ^(A)in labor and in pain to give birth.

³ 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. ^4 (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. ⁵ 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. ⁶ 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

⁷ And war broke out in heaven: ^(L)Michael and his angels fought ^(M)with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, ⁸ but they ^[a]did not prevail, nor was a place found for ^[b]them in heaven any longer. ⁹ 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.

The Beast from the Sea

13 Then ^[a]I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw ^(A)a beast rising up out of the sea, ^(B)having ^[b]seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a ^(C)blasphemous name. ² Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The ^(D)dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. ³ And I saw one of his heads ^(E)as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And ^(F)all the world marveled and followed the beast. ⁴ So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^(G)“Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

⁵ And he was given ^(H)a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to ^[c]continue for ^(I)forty-two months. ⁶ Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, ^(J)His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ It was granted to him ^(K)to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And ^(L)authority was given him over every ^[d]tribe, tongue, and nation. ⁸ All who dwell on the earth will worship him, ^(M)whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain ^(N)from the foundation of the world.

^9 (O)If anyone has an ear, let him hear. ^10 (P)He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; ^(Q)he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. ^(R)Here is the ^[e]patience and the faith of the saints.

The Beast from the Earth

¹¹ Then I saw another beast ^(S)coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. ¹² And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, ^(T)whose deadly wound was healed. ^13 (U)He performs great signs, ^(V)so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. ^14 (W)And he deceives ^[f]those who dwell on the earth ^(X)by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword ^(Y)and lived. ¹⁵ He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak ^(Z)and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, ^(AA)to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ and that no one may buy or sell except one who has ^[g]the mark or ^(AB)the name of the beast, ^(AC)or the number of his name.

^18 (AD)Here is wisdom. Let him who has ^(AE)understanding calculate ^(AF)the number of the beast, ^(AG)for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

The Scarlet Woman and the Scarlet Beast

17 Then ^(A)one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying ^[a]to me, “Come, ^(B)I will show you the judgment of ^(C)the great harlot ^(D)who sits on many waters, ^2 (E)with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and ^(F)the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

³ So he carried me away in the Spirit ^(G)into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting ^(H)on a scarlet beast which was full of ^(I)names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(J)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, ^(K)and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, ^(L)having in her hand a golden cup ^(M)full of abominations and the filthiness of ^[b]her fornication. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written:

^(N)MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS
OF THE EARTH.

⁶ I saw ^(O)the woman, drunk ^(P)with the blood of the saints and with the blood of ^(Q)the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

The Meaning of the Woman and the Beast

⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the ^[c]mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and ^(R)will ascend out of the bottomless pit and ^(S)go to ^[d]perdition. And those who ^(T)dwell on the earth ^(U)will marvel, ^(V)whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and ^[e]yet is.

^9 (W)“Here is the mind which has wisdom: ^(X)The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. ¹⁰ There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must ^(Y)continue a short time. ¹¹ The ^(Z)beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to ^[f]perdition.

^12 (AA)“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ^14 (AB)These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will ^(AC)overcome them, ^(AD)for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; ^(AE)and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

¹⁵ Then he said to me, ^(AF)“The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, ^(AG)are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. ¹⁶ And the ten horns which you ^[g]saw on the beast, ^(AH)these will hate the harlot, make her ^(AI)desolate ^(AJ)and naked, eat her flesh and ^(AK)burn her with fire. ^17 (AL)For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, ^(AM)until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman whom you saw ^(AN)is that great city ^(AO)which reigns over the kings of the earth.”