The Angel and the Little Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with ^(A)a rainbow over his head, and ^(B)his face was like the sun, and ^(C)his legs like pillars of fire. ^2 (D)He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, ³ and called out with a loud voice, ^(E)like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. ⁴ And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^(F)“Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” ⁵ And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^(G)raised his right hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by ^(H)him who lives forever and ever, ^(I)who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, ⁷ but that ^(J)in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, ^(K)just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, ^(L)“Take and ^(M)eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. ¹¹ And I was told, ^(N)“You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given ^(O)a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, ² but do not measure ^(P)the court outside the temple; leave that out, for ^(Q)it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for ^(R)forty-two months. ³ And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^(S)1,260 days, ^(T)clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴ These are ^(U)the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ And if anyone would harm them, ^(V)fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, ^(W)this is how he is doomed to be killed. ⁶ They have the power ^(X)to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and ^(Y)to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. ⁷ And when they have finished their testimony, ^(Z)the beast that rises from ^(AA)the bottomless pit^{[a] (AB)}will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, ⁸ and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically^[b] is called ^(AC)Sodom and ^(AD)Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. ⁹ For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and ^(AE)refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, ¹⁰ and ^(AF)those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and ^(AG)exchange presents, because these two prophets ^(AH)had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ But after the three and a half days ^(AI)a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹² Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ^(AJ)“Come up here!” And ^(AK)they went up to heaven ^(AL)in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And at that hour there was ^(AM)a great earthquake, and ^(AN)a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^(AO)gave glory to ^(AP)the God of heaven.

^14 (AQ)The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵ Then ^(AR)the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and ^(AS)there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ^(AT)“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of ^(AU)his Christ, and ^(AV)he shall reign forever and ever.” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders ^(AW)who sit on their thrones before God ^(AX)fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying,

¹⁹ Then ^(BE)God's temple in heaven was opened, and ^(BF)the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,^[c] peals of thunder, an earthquake, and ^(BG)heavy hail.

The Woman and the Dragon

12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^(BH)clothed with ^(BI)the sun, with ^(BJ)the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and ^(BK)was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^(BL)red dragon, ^(BM)with seven heads and ^(BN)ten horns, and on his heads ^(BO)seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down ^(BP)a third of the stars of heaven and ^(BQ)cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child ^(BR)he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, ^(BS)one who is to rule^[d] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^(BT)caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^(BU)1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, ^(BV)Michael and ^(BW)his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And ^(BX)the great dragon was thrown down, ^(BY)that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^(BZ)the deceiver of the whole world—^(CA)he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now ^(CB)the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers^[e] has been thrown down, ^(CC)who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹ And ^(CD)they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^(CE)they loved not their lives ^(CF)even unto death. ¹² Therefore, ^(CG)rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^(CH)woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^(CI)he knows that his time is short!”

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^(CJ)the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two ^(CK)wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^(CL)into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^(CM)for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵ The serpent poured water ^(CN)like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶ But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off ^(CO)to make war on the rest of ^(CP)her offspring, ^(CQ)on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ^(CR)the testimony of Jesus. And he stood^[f] on the sand of the sea.

The First Beast

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^(CS)with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^(CT)blasphemous names on its heads. ² And the beast that I saw was ^(CU)like a leopard; its feet were like ^(CV)a bear's, and its mouth was like ^(CW)a lion's mouth. And to it ^(CX)the dragon gave his power and ^(CY)his throne and great authority. ³ One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^(CZ)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, ^(DA)“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵ And the beast was given ^(DB)a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^(DC)forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,^[g] that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ Also it was allowed ^(DD)to make war on the saints and to conquer them.^[h] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸ and all ^(DE)who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in ^(DF)the book of life of ^(DG)the Lamb ^(DH)who was slain. ^9 (DI)If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

^(DL)Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

¹¹ Then ^(DM)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,^[i] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^(DN)whose mortal wound was healed. ^13 (DO)It performs great signs, even ^(DP)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^[j] the beast ^(DQ)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ^(DR)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 ^(DS)worship the image of the beast ^(DT)to be slain. ¹⁶ Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{[k] (DU)}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, ^(DV)the name of the beast or ^(DW)the number of its name. ^18 (DX)This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number ^(DY)of a man, and his number is 666.^[l]