Revelation 13
New Testament for Everyone
A first monster
13 Then I saw a monster coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. Each of the ten horns was wearing a coronet, and blasphemous names were written on the heads. 2 The monster I saw was like a leopard, with bear’s feet and a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave the monster its power and its throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads appeared to have been slaughtered and killed, but its fatal wound had been healed. The whole earth was awed and astonished by the monster, 4 and worshiped the dragon because it had given the monster its authority. They worshiped the monster too. “Who is like the monster?” they were saying. “Who can fight against it?” 5 And the monster was given a mouth that speaks great, blasphemous words, and was given authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, to curse his name and his dwelling place—that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted the right to make war against God’s holy people and to defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation. 8 So everyone who lived on earth worshiped it—everyone, that is, whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the slaughtered lamb.
9 If anyone has ears, let them hear!
10 If anyone is to be taken captive, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed. This is a summons for God’s holy people to be patient and have faith.
A second monster
11 Then I saw another monster coming up from the earth. It had two horns like those of a lamb, and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It acts in the presence of the first monster and with its full authority, and it makes the earth and those who live on it worship the first monster, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 It performs great signs, so that it even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of people, 14 and it deceives the people who live on earth by the signs which it has been allowed to perform in front of the monster, instructing the earth’s inhabitants to make an image of the monster who had the sword-wound but was alive. 15 It was allowed to give breath to the monster’s image, so that the monster’s image could speak, and it could kill anyone who didn’t worship the monster’s image. 16 It makes everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slaves, receive a sign from it, marked on their right hands and on their foreheads, 17 so that nobody can buy or sell unless they have the mark of the name of the monster or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom. Anyone with a good head on their shoulders should work out the monster’s number, because it’s the number of a human being. Its number is Six Hundred and Sixty-Six.
Revelation 13
English Standard Version
The First Beast
13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, (A)with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and (B)blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was (C)like a leopard; its feet were like (D)a bear's, and its mouth was like (E)a lion's mouth. And to it (F)the dragon gave his power and (G)his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and (H)the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, (I)“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
5 And the beast was given (J)a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for (K)forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed (L)to make war on the saints and to conquer them.[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all (M)who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in (N)the book of life of (O)the Lamb (P)who was slain. 9 (Q)If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 (R)If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
(S)if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
(T)Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
The Second Beast
11 Then (U)I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, (V)whose mortal wound was healed. 13 (W)It performs great signs, even (X)making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of[d] the beast (Y)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast (Z)that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not (AA)worship the image of the beast (AB)to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,[e] (AC)to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, (AD)the name of the beast or (AE)the number of its name. 18 (AF)This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number (AG)of a man, and his number is 666.[f]
Footnotes
- Revelation 13:6 Or tabernacle
- Revelation 13:7 Some manuscripts omit this sentence
- Revelation 13:12 Or on its behalf
- Revelation 13:14 Or on behalf of
- Revelation 13:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
- Revelation 13:18 Some manuscripts 616
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
