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11 I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people. 14 He deceives my own[a] people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast, saying to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived. 15 It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn’t worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; 17 and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six.

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Footnotes

  1. 13:14 NU omits “my own”

11 I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it talked like a dragon. 12 It uses all the authority of the first beast on its behalf,[a] and it makes the earth and those living on it worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs spectacular signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people. 14 It deceives those living on earth with the signs that it is allowed to do on behalf of[b] the first[c] beast, telling them to make an image for the beast who was wounded by a sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast[d] was allowed to impart life to the image of the first[e] beast so that the image of the beast could talk and order the execution of those who would not worship the image of the beast. 16 The second beast[f] forces all people—important and unimportant, rich and poor, free and slaves—to be marked on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that no one may buy or sell unless he has the mark, which is the beast’s name or the number of its name.

18 In this case wisdom is needed: Let the person who has understanding[g] calculate[h] the total[i] of the beast, since it is a human multitude,[j] and the sum of the multitude[k] is 600, 60, and six.[l]

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 13:12 Or in its presence
  2. Revelation 13:14 Or in the presence of
  3. Revelation 13:14 The Gk. lacks first
  4. Revelation 13:15 Lit. It
  5. Revelation 13:15 The Gk. lacks first
  6. Revelation 13:16 Lit. It
  7. Revelation 13:18 Lit. has a mind
  8. Revelation 13:18 Or decide
  9. Revelation 13:18 Or the multitude
  10. Revelation 13:18 Or is a multitude of a man; or is the number of a human being
  11. Revelation 13:18 Or total number
  12. Revelation 13:18 Other mss. read 616; some scholars suggest that the Gk. letters χ, ξ, and ς (totaling 666) may resemble the proto-Arabic term for “in the name of Allah”