Revelation 13
Legacy Standard Bible
The Beast from the Sea
13 And the [a]dragon stood on the sand of the [b]seashore.
Then I saw a (A)beast coming up out of the sea, having (B)ten horns and (C)seven heads, and on his horns were (D)ten diadems, and on his heads were (E)blasphemous names. 2 And the beast which I saw was (F)like a leopard, and his feet were like those of (G)a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of (H)a lion. And the (I)dragon gave him his power and his (J)throne and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been [c]slain fatally, and his (K)fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth (L)marveled and followed after the beast. 4 And they worshiped the (M)dragon because he (N)gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “(O)Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5 And there was given to him a mouth (P)speaking [d]great boasts and blasphemies, and authority to act for (Q)forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, (R)those who [e]dwell in heaven.
7 And it was also given to him to (S)make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over (T)every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 And all who (U)dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone (V)whose name has not been [f]written (W)from the foundation of the world in the (X)book of life of (Y)the Lamb who has been slain. 9 (Z)If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 (AA)If anyone [g]is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; (AB)if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is (AC)the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
The Beast from the Earth
11 Then (AD)I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had (AE)two horns like a lamb and he was speaking as a (AF)dragon. 12 And he (AG)exercises all the authority of the first beast [h](AH)in his presence. And he makes (AI)the earth and those who dwell in it to (AJ)worship the first beast, whose (AK)fatal wound was healed. 13 And he (AL)does great signs, so that he even makes (AM)fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he (AN)deceives (AO)those who dwell on the earth because of (AP)the signs which were given to him to do [i](AQ)in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the (AR)wound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even [j]speak and cause (AS)as many as do not (AT)worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, (AU)the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, that they [k]be given a (AV)mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the (AW)mark, either (AX)the name of the beast or (AY)the number of his name. 18 (AZ)Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number (BA)of man; and his number is [l]666.
Footnotes
- Revelation 13:1 Lit he
- Revelation 13:1 Lit sea
- Revelation 13:3 Lit slaughtered to death
- Revelation 13:5 Lit great things
- Revelation 13:6 Or tabernacle
- Revelation 13:8 Or written in the book...slain from the foundation of the world
- Revelation 13:10 Or leads into captivity
- Revelation 13:12 Or by his authority
- Revelation 13:14 Or by the authority of
- Revelation 13:15 One early ms speak, and he will cause
- Revelation 13:16 Lit that they give them a mark
- Revelation 13:18 One early ms 616
Revelation 13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 13
The First Beast.[a] 1 Then I saw a beast come out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads; on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads blasphemous name[s].(A) 2 The beast I saw was like a leopard, but it had feet like a bear’s, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion.[b](B) To it the dragon gave its own power and throne, along with great authority. 3 I saw that one of its heads seemed to have been mortally wounded, but this mortal wound was healed.[c] Fascinated, the whole world followed after the beast. 4 They worshiped the dragon because it gave its authority to the beast; they also worshiped the beast[d] and said, “Who can compare with the beast or who can fight against it?”
5 [e]The beast was given a mouth uttering proud boasts and blasphemies,(C) and it was given authority to act for forty-two months.[f] 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was also allowed to wage war against the holy ones and conquer them, and it was granted authority over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation.(D) 8 All the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, all whose names were not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life, which belongs to the Lamb who was slain.(E)
9 Whoever has ears ought to hear these words.(F)
10 Anyone destined for captivity goes into captivity.
Anyone destined to be slain by the sword shall be slain by the sword.(G)
Such is the faithful endurance of the holy ones.
The Second Beast.[g] 11 Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb’s but spoke like a dragon. 12 It wielded all the authority of the first beast in its sight and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. 13 It performed great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of everyone.(H) 14 It deceived the inhabitants of the earth with the signs it was allowed to perform in the sight of the first beast, telling them to make an image for the beast who had been wounded by the sword and revived. 15 It was then permitted to breathe life into the beast’s image, so that the beast’s image could speak and [could] have anyone who did not worship it put to death.(I) 16 It forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a stamped image on their right hands or their foreheads,(J) 17 so that no one could buy or sell except one who had the stamped image of the beast’s name or the number that stood for its name.
18 [h](K)Wisdom is needed here; one who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six.
Footnotes
- 13:1–10 This wild beast, combining features of the four beasts in Dn 7:2–28, symbolizes the Roman empire; the seven heads represent the emperors; see notes on Rev 17:10 and Rev 17:12–14. The blasphemous names are the divine titles assumed by the emperors.
- 13:2 Satan (Rev 12:9), the prince of this world (Jn 12:31), commissioned the beast to persecute the church (Rev 13:5–7).
- 13:3 This may be a reference to the popular legend that Nero would come back to life and rule again after his death (which occurred in A.D. 68 from a self-inflicted stab wound in the throat); cf. Rev 13:14; Rev 17:8. Domitian (A.D. 81–96) embodied all the cruelty and impiety of Nero. Cf. Introduction.
- 13:4 Worshiped the beast: allusion to emperor worship, which Domitian insisted upon and ruthlessly enforced. Who can compare with the beast: perhaps a deliberate parody of the name Michael; see note on Rev 12:7.
- 13:5–6 Domitian, like Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Dn 7:8, 11, 25), demanded that he be called by divine titles such as “our lord and god” and “Jupiter.” See note on Rev 11:2.
- 13:5 Forty-two months: this is the same duration as the profanation of the holy city (Rev 11:2), the prophetic mission of the two witnesses (Rev 11:3), and the retreat of the woman into the desert (Rev 12:6, 14).
- 13:11–18 The second beast is described in terms of the false prophets (cf. Rev 16:13; 19:20; 20:10) who accompany the false messiahs (the first beast); cf. Mt 24:24; Mk 13:22; 2 Thes 2:9; cf. also Dt 13:2–4. Christians had either to worship the emperor and his image or to suffer martyrdom.
- 13:18 Each of the letters of the alphabet in Hebrew as well as in Greek has a numerical value. Many possible combinations of letters will add up to 666, and many candidates have been nominated for this infamous number. The most likely is the emperor Caesar Nero (see note on Rev 13:3), the Greek form of whose name in Hebrew letters gives the required sum. (The Latin form of this name equals 616, which is the reading of a few manuscripts.) Nero personifies the emperors who viciously persecuted the church. It has also been observed that “6” represents imperfection, falling short of the perfect number “7,” and is represented here in a triple or superlative form.
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