Revelation 12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 12
The Woman and the Dragon. 1 [a]A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman[b] clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.(A) 2 She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.[c] 3 Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon,[d] with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems.(B) 4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.(C) 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.[e] Her child was caught up to God and his throne.(D) 6 The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days.[f]
7 [g]Then war broke out in heaven; Michael[h] and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, 8 but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,[i] who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.(E)
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.
For the accuser[j] of our brothers is cast out,
who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
12 Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them.
But woe to you, earth and sea,
for the Devil has come down to you in great fury,
for he knows he has but a short time.”
13 When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.(F) 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle,[k] so that she could fly to her place in the desert, where, far from the serpent, she was taken care of for a year, two years, and a half-year.(G) 15 The serpent,[l] however, spewed a torrent of water out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current. 16 But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth and swallowed the flood that the dragon spewed out of its mouth. 17 Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.[m](H) 18 It took its position[n] on the sand of the sea.
Footnotes
- 12:1–14:20 This central section of Revelation portrays the power of evil, represented by a dragon, in opposition to God and his people. First, the dragon pursues the woman about to give birth, but her son is saved and “caught up to God and his throne” (Rev 12:5). Then Michael and his angels cast the dragon and his angels out of heaven (Rev 12:7–9). After this, the dragon tries to attack the boy indirectly by attacking members of his church (Rev 12:13–17). A beast, symbolizing the Roman empire, then becomes the dragon’s agent, mortally wounded but restored to life and worshiped by all the world (Rev 13:1–10). A second beast arises from the land, symbolizing the antichrist, which leads people astray by its prodigies to idolize the first beast (Rev 13:11–18). This is followed by a vision of the Lamb and his faithful ones, and the proclamation of imminent judgment upon the world in terms of the wine of God’s wrath (Rev 14:1–20).
- 12:1–6 The woman adorned with the sun, the moon, and the stars (images taken from Gn 37:9–10) symbolizes God’s people in the Old and the New Testament. The Israel of old gave birth to the Messiah (Rev 12:5) and then became the new Israel, the church, which suffers persecution by the dragon (Rev 12:6, 13–17); cf. Is 50:1; 66:7; Jer 50:12. This corresponds to a widespread myth throughout the ancient world that a goddess pregnant with a savior was pursued by a horrible monster; by miraculous intervention, she bore a son who then killed the monster.
- 12:2 Because of Eve’s sin, the woman gives birth in distress and pain (Gn 3:16; cf. Is 66:7–14).
- 12:3 Huge red dragon: the Devil or Satan (cf. Rev 12:9; 20:2), symbol of the forces of evil, a mythical monster known also as Leviathan (Ps 74:13–14) or Rahab (Jb 26:12–13; Ps 89:11). Seven diadems: these are symbolic of the fullness of the dragon’s sovereignty over the kingdoms of this world; cf. Christ with many diadems (Rev 19:12).
- 12:5 Rule…iron rod: fulfilled in Rev 19:15; cf. Ps 2:9. Was caught up to God: reference to Christ’s ascension.
- 12:6 God protects the persecuted church in the desert, the traditional Old Testament place of refuge for the afflicted, according to the typology of the Exodus; see note on Rev 11:2.
- 12:7–12 Michael, mentioned only here in Revelation, wins a victory over the dragon. A hymn of praise follows.
- 12:7 Michael: the archangel, guardian and champion of Israel; cf. Dn 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9. In Hebrew, the name Michael means “Who can compare with God?”; cf. Rev 13:4.
- 12:9 The ancient serpent: who seduced Eve (Gn 3:1–6), mother of the human race; cf. Rev 20:2; Eph 6:11–12. Was thrown down: allusion to the expulsion of Satan from heaven; cf. Lk 10:18.
- 12:10 The accuser: the meaning of the Hebrew word “Satan,” found in Rev 12:9; Jb 1–2; Zec 3:1; 1 Chr 21:1; he continues to accuse Christ’s disciples.
- 12:14 Great eagle: symbol of the power and swiftness of divine help; cf. Ex 19:4; Dt 32:11; Is 40:31.
- 12:15 The serpent is depicted as the sea monster; cf. Rev 13:1; Is 27:1; Ez 32:2; Ps 74:13–14.
- 12:17 Although the church is protected by God’s special providence (Rev 12:16), the individual Christian is to expect persecution and suffering.
- 12:18 It took its position: many later manuscripts and versions read “I took my position,” thus connecting the sentence to the following paragraph.
启示录 12
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
生子的女人和大龍
12 那時，天上出現了一個奇偉的景象：有一個婦人，身披太陽，腳踏月亮，頭戴十二顆星的冠冕。 2 她懷了孕，在生產的痛苦中疼痛呼叫。 3 天上又出現了另一個景象。看哪！有一條大紅龍，有七頭十角，七頭上戴著七個皇冠。 4 牠的尾巴拖著天上三分之一的星辰，把它們摔在地上。龍站在那快要生產的婦人面前，等她生產了，就要吞吃她的孩子。 5 她生了一個男孩子，就是將來要用鐵杖治理列國的。她的孩子被提取到 神和他寶座那裡去。 6 婦人就逃到曠野去了，那裡有 神為她預備的地方。她在那裡得供養一千二百六十天。
7 天上發生了戰爭：米迦勒和他的天使與龍作戰。龍和牠的天使也起來應戰， 8 龍卻抵擋不住，天上再也沒有牠們的地方了。 9 於是那大龍被摔了下來。牠就是那古蛇，名叫魔鬼，又叫撒但，是迷惑普天下的人的。牠被摔在地上，牠的天使也跟牠一同被摔了下來。 10 我又聽見天上有大聲音說：
“我們 神的救恩、能力、國度
和他所立的基督的權柄，
現在都已經來到了！
因為那晝夜在我們 神面前
控告我們弟兄的控告者，
已經被摔下來了！
11 弟兄勝過牠，是因著羊羔的血，
也因著自己所見證的道，
他們雖然至死，
也不愛惜自己的性命。
12 所以，眾天和住在其中的，
你們都歡樂吧！
可是地和海有禍了！
因為魔鬼知道自己的時日無多，
就大大發怒下到你們那裡去了。”
13 龍見自己被摔在地上，就迫害那生了男孩子的婦人。 14 於是有大鷹的兩個翅膀賜給了那婦人，使她可以飛到曠野，到自己的地方，在那裡得供養一年兩年半年，離開那蛇的面。 15 蛇在婦人後面，從口中吐出水來，好像江河一樣，要把婦人沖去。 16 地卻幫助了那婦人，張開口，把從龍口中吐出來的河水吞了。 17 龍就向婦人發怒，去和她其餘的子孫作戰，就是和那遵守 神命令堅持耶穌見證的人作戰。 18 那時，龍站在海邊的沙上。
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
