The Second Beast

11 Then (A)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,[a] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, (B)whose mortal wound was healed. 13 (C)It performs great signs, even (D)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[b] the beast (E)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast (F)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 (G)worship the image of the beast (H)to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,[c] (I)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, (J)the name of the beast or (K)the number of its name. 18 (L)This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number (M)of a man, and his number is 666.[d]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 13:12 Or on its behalf
  2. Revelation 13:14 Or on behalf of
  3. Revelation 13:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
  4. Revelation 13:18 Some manuscripts 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.

Read full chapter