Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks
Chapter 12
The Woman and the Dragon. 1 [a]A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman[b] clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.(A) 2 She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.[c] 3 Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon,[d] with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems.(B) 4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.(C) 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.[e] Her child was caught up to God and his throne.(D) 6 The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days.[f]
7 [g]Then war broke out in heaven; Michael[h] and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, 8 but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,[i] who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.(E)
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.
For the accuser[j] of our brothers is cast out,
who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
12 Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them.
But woe to you, earth and sea,
for the Devil has come down to you in great fury,
for he knows he has but a short time.”
13 When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.(F) 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle,[k] so that she could fly to her place in the desert, where, far from the serpent, she was taken care of for a year, two years, and a half-year.(G) 15 The serpent,[l] however, spewed a torrent of water out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current. 16 But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth and swallowed the flood that the dragon spewed out of its mouth. 17 Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.[m](H) 18 It took its position[n] on the sand of the sea.
Chapter 13
The First Beast.[o] 1 Then I saw a beast come out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads; on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads blasphemous name[s].(I) 2 The beast I saw was like a leopard, but it had feet like a bear’s, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion.[p](J) To it the dragon gave its own power and throne, along with great authority. 3 I saw that one of its heads seemed to have been mortally wounded, but this mortal wound was healed.[q] Fascinated, the whole world followed after the beast. 4 They worshiped the dragon because it gave its authority to the beast; they also worshiped the beast[r] and said, “Who can compare with the beast or who can fight against it?”
5 [s]The beast was given a mouth uttering proud boasts and blasphemies,(K) and it was given authority to act for forty-two months.[t] 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was also allowed to wage war against the holy ones and conquer them, and it was granted authority over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation.(L) 8 All the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, all whose names were not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life, which belongs to the Lamb who was slain.(M)
9 Whoever has ears ought to hear these words.(N)
10 Anyone destined for captivity goes into captivity.
Anyone destined to be slain by the sword shall be slain by the sword.(O)
Such is the faithful endurance of the holy ones.
The Second Beast.[u] 11 Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb’s but spoke like a dragon. 12 It wielded all the authority of the first beast in its sight and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. 13 It performed great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of everyone.(P) 14 It deceived the inhabitants of the earth with the signs it was allowed to perform in the sight of the first beast, telling them to make an image for the beast who had been wounded by the sword and revived. 15 It was then permitted to breathe life into the beast’s image, so that the beast’s image could speak and [could] have anyone who did not worship it put to death.(Q) 16 It forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a stamped image on their right hands or their foreheads,(R) 17 so that no one could buy or sell except one who had the stamped image of the beast’s name or the number that stood for its name.
18 [v](S)Wisdom is needed here; one who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.