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The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
12 Then[a] a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head was a crown of twelve stars.[b] 2 She[c] was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling[d] to give birth. 3 Then[e] another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns.[f] 4 Now[g] the dragon’s[h] tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then[i] the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 So[j] the woman gave birth to a son, a male child,[k] who is going to rule[l] over all the nations[m] with an iron rod.[n] Her[o] child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and she[p] fled into the wilderness[q] where a place had been prepared for her[r] by God, so she could be taken care of[s] for 1,260 days.
War in Heaven
7 Then[t] war broke out in heaven: Michael[u] and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But[v] the dragon was not strong enough to prevail,[w] so there was no longer any place left[x] in heaven for him and his angels.[y] 9 So[z] that huge dragon—the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world—was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 10 Then[aa] I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
“The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the ruling authority[ab] of his Christ,[ac] have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers and sisters,[ad]
the one who accuses them day and night[ae] before our God,
has been thrown down.
11 But[af] they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
and they did not love their lives[ag] so much that they were afraid to die.
12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them!
But[ah] woe to the earth and the sea
because the devil has come down to you!
He[ai] is filled with terrible anger,
for he knows that he only has a little time!”
13 Now[aj] when the dragon realized[ak] that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But[al] the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness,[am] to the place God[an] prepared for her, where she is taken care of—away from the presence of the serpent—for a time, times, and half a time.[ao] 15 Then[ap] the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to[aq] sweep her away by a flood, 16 but[ar] the earth came to her rescue;[as] the ground opened up[at] and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So[au] the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children,[av] those who keep[aw] God’s commandments and hold to[ax] the testimony about Jesus.[ay] 18 And the dragon[az] stood[ba] on the sand[bb] of the seashore.[bc]
The Two Beasts
13 Then[bd] I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It[be] had ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns,[bf] and on its heads a blasphemous name.[bg] 2 Now[bh] the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The[bi] dragon gave the beast[bj] his power, his throne, and great authority to rule.[bk] 3 One of the beast’s[bl] heads appeared to have been killed,[bm] but the lethal wound had been healed.[bn] And the whole world followed[bo] the beast in amazement; 4 they worshiped the dragon because he had given ruling authority[bp] to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?”[bq] 5 The beast[br] was given a mouth speaking proud words[bs] and blasphemies, and he was permitted[bt] to exercise ruling authority[bu] for forty-two months. 6 So[bv] the beast[bw] opened his mouth to blaspheme against God—to blaspheme both his name and his dwelling place,[bx] that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 The beast[by] was permitted to go to war against the saints and conquer them.[bz] He was given ruling authority[ca] over every tribe, people,[cb] language, and nation, 8 and all those who live on the earth will worship the beast,[cc] everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world[cd] in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was killed.[ce] 9 If anyone has an ear, he had better listen!
10 If anyone is meant for captivity,
into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed by the sword,[cf]
then by the sword he must be killed.
This[cg] requires steadfast endurance[ch] and faith from the saints.
11 Then[ci] I saw another beast[cj] coming up from the earth. He[ck] had two horns like a lamb,[cl] but[cm] was speaking like a dragon. 12 He[cn] exercised all the ruling authority[co] of the first beast on his behalf,[cp] and made the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, the one whose lethal wound had been healed. 13 He[cq] performed momentous signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people[cr] 14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told[cs] those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. 15 The second beast[ct] was empowered[cu] to give life[cv] to the image of the first beast[cw] so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He also caused[cx] everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave[cy]) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. 17 Thus no one was allowed to buy[cz] or sell things[da] unless he bore[db] the mark of the beast—that is, his name or his number.[dc] 18 This calls for wisdom:[dd] Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number,[de] and his number is 666.[df]
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