Revelation 12
GOD’S WORD Translation
Two Signs
12 A spectacular sign appeared in the sky: There was a woman who was dressed in the sun, who had the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant. She cried out from labor pains and the agony of giving birth.
3 Another sign appeared in the sky: a huge fiery red serpent with seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky and threw them down to earth. The serpent stood in front of the woman who was going to give birth so that it could devour her child when it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a boy, who is to rule all the nations with an iron scepter. Her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness where God had prepared a place for her so that she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then a war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels had to fight a war with the serpent. The serpent and its angels fought. 8 But it was not strong enough, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The huge serpent was thrown down. That ancient snake, named Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was thrown down to earth. Its angels were thrown down with it.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,
“Now the salvation, power, kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah have come.
The one accusing our brothers and sisters,
the one accusing them day and night in the presence of our God,
has been thrown out.
11 They won the victory over him because of the blood of the lamb
and the word of their testimony.
They didn’t love their life so much that they refused to give it up.
12 Be glad for this reason, heavens and those who live in them.
How horrible it is for the earth and the sea
because the Devil has come down to them with fierce anger,
knowing that he has little time left.”
13 When the serpent saw that it had been thrown down to earth, it persecuted the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14 The woman was given the two wings of the large eagle in order to fly away from the snake to her place in the wilderness, where she could be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time. 15 The snake’s mouth poured out a river of water behind the woman in order to sweep her away. 16 The earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river which had poured out of the serpent’s mouth. 17 The serpent became angry with the woman. So it went away to fight with her other children, the ones who keep God’s commands and hold on to the testimony of Jesus.
18 The serpent stood on the sandy shore of the sea.[a]
Footnotes
- 12:18 Some translations include this verse at the beginning of 13:1.
Revelation 12
New King James Version
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.
Footnotes
- Revelation 12:8 were not strong enough
- Revelation 12:8 M him
- Revelation 12:17 NU, M omit Christ
Revelation 12
English Standard Version
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.
Footnotes
- Revelation 12:5 Greek shepherd
- Revelation 12:10 Or brothers and sisters
- Revelation 12:17 Some manuscripts And I stood, connecting the sentence with 13:1
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
