The Beast from the Earth

11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb,[a](A) but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 It also performs great signs,(B) even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people.(C) 14 It deceives those who live on the earth(D) because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast,(E) telling those who live on the earth to make an image[b] of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 It was permitted to give breath[c] to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.(F) 16 And it makes everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,(G) 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.

18 This calls for wisdom:[d](H) Let the one who has understanding calculate[e] the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. 13:11 Or ram
  2. 13:14 Or a statue, or a likeness
  3. 13:15 Or a spirit, or life
  4. 13:18 Or Here is wisdom
  5. 13:18 Or count, or figure out
  6. 13:18 Other Gk mss read 616

The beast from the land

11 Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it was speaking like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence. It also makes the earth and those who live in it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 It does great signs so that it even makes fire come down from heaven to earth in the presence of the people. 14 It deceives those who live on earth by the signs that it was allowed to do in the presence of the beast. It told those who live on earth to make an image for the beast who had been wounded by the sword and yet came to life again. 15 It was allowed to give breath to the beast’s image so that the beast’s image would even speak and cause anyone who didn’t worship the beast’s image to be put to death. 16 It forces everyone—the small and great, the rich and poor, the free and slaves—to have a mark put on their right hand or on their forehead. 17 It will not allow anyone to make a purchase or sell anything unless the person has the mark with the beast’s name or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the one who understands calculate the beast’s number, for it’s a human being’s number. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.

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