Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

The Woman Giving Birth and the Dragon

12 And then a great wonder appeared in heaven: There was a woman who was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet. She had a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out with pain because she was about to give birth.

³ Then another wonder appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon there. The dragon had seven heads with a crown on each head. It also had ten horns. ⁴ Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. It stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth to the baby. It wanted to eat the woman’s baby as soon as it was born.

⁵ The woman gave birth to a son, who would rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was taken up to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman ran away into the desert to a place that God had prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for 1260 days.

⁷ Then there was a war in heaven. Michael^[a] and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, ⁸ but they were not strong enough. The dragon and its angels lost their place in heaven. ⁹ It was thrown down out of heaven. (This giant dragon is that old snake, the one called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world into the wrong way.) The dragon and its angels were thrown to the earth.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, “The victory and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah have now come. These things have come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown out. He is the one who accused them day and night before our God. ¹¹ They defeated him by the blood sacrifice of the Lamb and by the message of God that they told people. They did not love their lives too much. They were not afraid of death. ¹² So rejoice, you heavens and all who live there! But it will be terrible for the earth and sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with anger. He knows he doesn’t have much time.”

¹³ The dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth. So he chased the woman who had given birth to the child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle. Then she could fly to the place that was prepared for her in the desert. There she would be taken care of for three and a half years. There she would be away from the dragon.^{[b] 15} Then the dragon poured water out of its mouth like a river. It poured the water toward the woman so that the flood would carry her away. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that came from the mouth of the dragon. ¹⁷ Then the dragon was very angry with the woman. It went away to make war against all her other children. Her children are those who obey God’s commands and have the truth that Jesus taught.

¹⁸ The dragon stood on the seashore.

The Beast From the Sea

13 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. There was a crown on each of its horns. It had an evil name written on each head. ² This beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear’s feet. It had a mouth like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast all of its power and its throne and great authority.

³ One of the heads of the beast looked as if it had been wounded and killed, but the death wound was healed. All the people in the world were amazed, and they all followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because it had given its power to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast. They asked, “Who is as powerful as the beast? Who can make war against it?”

⁵ The beast was allowed to boast and speak insults against God. It was allowed to use its power for 42 months. ⁶ The beast opened its mouth to insult God—to insult his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. ⁷ It was given power to make war against God’s holy people and to defeat them. It was given power over every tribe, race of people, language, and nation. ⁸ Everyone living on earth would worship the beast. These are all the people since the beginning of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lamb is the one who was killed.

⁹ Anyone who hears these things should listen to this:

This means that God’s holy people must have patience and faith.

The Beast From the Earth

¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he talked like a dragon. ¹² This beast stood before the first beast and used the same power the first beast had. He used this power to make everyone living on the earth worship the first beast. The first beast was the one that had the death wound that was healed. ¹³ The second beast did great miracles.^[c] He even made fire come down from heaven to earth while people were watching.

¹⁴ This second beast fooled the people living on earth by using the miracles that he had been given the power to do for the first beast. He ordered people to make an idol to honor the first beast, the one that was wounded by the sword but did not die. ¹⁵ The second beast was given power to give life to the idol of the first beast. Then the idol could speak and order all those who did not worship it to be killed. ¹⁶ The second beast also forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark put on their right hand or on their forehead. ¹⁷ No one could buy or sell without this mark. (This mark is the name of the beast or the number of its name.)

¹⁸ Anyone who has understanding can find the meaning of the beast’s number. This requires wisdom. This number is the number of a man. It is 666.