Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A woman, her child, and the dragon

12 Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant, and she cried out because she was in labor, in pain from giving birth. ³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: it was a great fiery red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads. ⁴ His tail swept down a third of heaven’s stars and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child who is to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was snatched up to God and his throne. ⁶ Then the woman fled into the desert, where God has prepared a place for her. There she will be taken care of for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

Michael and the dragon

⁷ Then there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but they did not prevail, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ So the great dragon was thrown down. The old snake, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was thrown down to the earth; and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,

The dragon pursues the woman

¹³ When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he chased the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she could fly to her place in the desert. There she would be taken care of—out of the snake’s reach—for a time and times and half a time. ¹⁵ Then from his mouth the snake poured a river of water after the woman so that the river would sweep her away. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon poured out of his mouth. ¹⁷ So the dragon was furious with the woman, and he went off to make war on the rest of her children, on those who keep God’s commandments and hold firmly to the witness of Jesus.

The beast from the sea

¹⁸ Then the dragon stood on the seashore, 13 ¹ and I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. Each of its horns was decorated with a royal crown, and on its heads were blasphemous names. ² The beast I saw was like a leopard. Its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave it his power, throne, and great authority. ³ One of its heads appeared to have been slain and killed, but its deadly wound was healed. So the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. ⁴ They worshipped the dragon because it had given the beast its authority. They worshipped the beast and said, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵ The beast was given a mouth that spoke boastful and blasphemous things, and it was given authority to act for forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God. It blasphemed God’s name and his dwelling place (that is, those who dwell in heaven).

⁷ It was also allowed to make war on the saints and to gain victory over them. It was given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. ⁸ All who live on earth worshipped it, all whose names hadn’t been written—from the time the earth was made—in the scroll of life of the Lamb who was slain. ⁹ Whoever has ears must listen: ¹⁰ If any are to be taken captive, then into captivity they will go. If any are to be killed by the sword, then by the sword they will be killed. This calls for endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.

The beast from the land

¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it was speaking like a dragon. ¹² It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence. It also makes the earth and those who live in it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. ¹³ It does great signs so that it even makes fire come down from heaven to earth in the presence of the people. ¹⁴ It deceives those who live on earth by the signs that it was allowed to do in the presence of the beast. It told those who live on earth to make an image for the beast who had been wounded by the sword and yet came to life again. ¹⁵ It was allowed to give breath to the beast’s image so that the beast’s image would even speak and cause anyone who didn’t worship the beast’s image to be put to death. ¹⁶ It forces everyone—the small and great, the rich and poor, the free and slaves—to have a mark put on their right hand or on their forehead. ¹⁷ It will not allow anyone to make a purchase or sell anything unless the person has the mark with the beast’s name or the number of its name. ¹⁸ This calls for wisdom. Let the one who understands calculate the beast’s number, for it’s a human being’s number. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.