Book of Common Prayer

12 I saw a wonderful thing in the sky. A woman was wearing the sun like a dress. She stood on the moon. On her head she had twelve stars in a big ring like a crown. She was going to have a baby.

² She cried out in pain because it was time for the baby to be born.

³ And another wonderful thing was seen in the sky. It was a big red dragon. He had seven heads and ten horns. He had seven big rings on his heads.

⁴ His tail struck a third part of the stars from the sky to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who would soon have a baby. He wanted to eat her baby when it was born.

⁵ Then her baby boy was born. He will rule all the countries with an iron stick. Her child was taken up to God, to God's throne.

⁶ The woman ran away into the wilderness. There God had made a place ready for her. There she will have food for forty-two months.

⁷ Then there was fighting in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back.

⁸ But they did not win the fight and no longer were they allowed to stay in heaven.

⁹ The dragon was thrown down. He was that old snake who is called the devil and Satan. He fools all the people in the world. He was thrown down to earth and his angels were thrown down with him.

¹⁰ I heard a loud voice in the sky. It said, `Now the time has come for God to save people. He will use his strength. His kingdom will come and his Christ will use his power. The one who says bad things about our brothers to God day and night has been thrown down.

¹⁶ `God loved the world so very, very much that he gave his only Son. Because he did that, everyone who believes in him will not lose his life, but will live for ever.

¹⁷ God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world. He sent him to save the world.

¹⁸ `Everyone who believes in the Son will not be judged. But everyone who does not believe in him is judged already, because he does not believe in the name of God's only Son.

¹⁹ Light came into the world. But people wanted to be in the dark because they did wrong things. They did not want the light. That is why they are judged.

²⁰ Everyone who does wrong things hates light. He does not come to the light because he is afraid people will see what he does and will say it is bad.

²¹ But everyone who does what is right comes to the light. He wants people to see that God helps him to do what is right.'