Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

The Woman and the Dragon

12 Then a great and mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a woman, whose dress was the sun and who had the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was soon to give birth, and the pains and suffering of childbirth made her cry out.

^3 (A)Another mysterious sight appeared in the sky. There was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and a crown on each of his heads. ^4 (B)With his tail he dragged a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. He stood in front of the woman, in order to eat her child as soon as it was born. ^5 (C)Then she gave birth to a son, who will rule over all nations with an iron rod. But the child was snatched away and taken to God and his throne. ⁶ The woman fled to the desert, to a place God had prepared for her, where she will be taken care of for 1,260 days.

^7 (D)Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; ⁸ but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. ^9 (E)The huge dragon was thrown out—that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

^10 (F)Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown his power as King! Now his Messiah has shown his authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. ¹¹ They won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. ¹² And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left.”

¹³ When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to pursue the woman who had given birth to the boy. ^14 (G)She was given the two wings of a large eagle in order to fly to her place in the desert, where she will be taken care of for three and a half years, safe from the dragon's attack. ¹⁵ And then from his mouth the dragon poured out a flood of water after the woman, so that it would carry her away. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman; it opened its mouth and swallowed the water that had come from the dragon's mouth. ¹⁷ The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God's commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus. ¹⁸ And the dragon stood^[a] on the seashore.

The Two Beasts

13 ^(H)Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. ^2 (I)The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority. ³ One of the heads of the beast seemed to have been fatally wounded, but the wound had healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. ⁴ Everyone worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast. They worshiped the beast also, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who can fight against it?”

^5 (J)The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. ⁶ It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. ^7 (K)It was allowed to fight against God's people and to defeat them, and it was given authority over every tribe, nation, language, and race. ^8 (L)All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living which belongs to the Lamb that was killed.

⁹ “Listen, then, if you have ears! ^10 (M)Whoever is meant to be captured will surely be captured; whoever is meant to be killed by the sword will surely be killed by the sword. This calls for endurance and faith on the part of God's people.”

¹¹ Then I saw another beast, which came up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb's horns, and it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It used the vast authority of the first beast in its presence. It forced the earth and all who live on it to worship the first beast, whose wound had healed. ¹³ This second beast performed great miracles; it made fire come down out of heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. ¹⁴ And it deceived all the people living on earth by means of the miracles which it was allowed to perform in the presence of the first beast. The beast told them to build an image in honor of the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ The second beast was allowed to breathe life into the image of the first beast, so that the image could talk and put to death all those who would not worship it. ¹⁶ The beast forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, slave and free, to have a mark placed on their right hands or on their foreheads. ¹⁷ No one could buy or sell without this mark, that is, the beast's name or the number that stands for the name.

¹⁸ This calls for wisdom. Whoever is intelligent can figure out the meaning of the number of the beast, because the number stands for the name of someone. Its number is 666.