The Woman and the Dragon

12 A great signr appeared in heaven:s a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve starst on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in painu as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven:v an enormous red dragonw with seven headsx and ten hornsy and seven crownsz on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a thirda of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.b The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her childc the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”a d And her child was snatched upe to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.f

7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michaelg and his angels fought against the dragon,h and the dragon and his angelsi fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpentj called the devil,k or Satan,l who leads the whole world astray.m He was hurled to the earth,n and his angels with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaveno say:

“Now have come the salvationp and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the authority of his Messiah.

For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,q

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down.

11 They triumphed overr him

by the blood of the Lambs

and by the word of their testimony;t

they did not love their lives so much

as to shrink from death.u

12 Therefore rejoice, you heavensv

and you who dwell in them!

But woew to the earth and the sea,x

because the devil has gone down to you!

He is filled with fury,

because he knows that his time is short.”

13 When the dragony saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.z 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,a so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time,b out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpentc spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage ward against the rest of her offspringe—those who keep God’s commandsf and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.g

The Beast out of the Sea

13 The dragona stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.h It had ten horns and seven heads,i with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.j 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard,k but had feet like those of a bearl and a mouth like that of a lion.m The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.n 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed.o The whole world was filled with wonderp and followed the beast. 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is likeq the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemiesr and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.s 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.t 7 It was given power to wage waru against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.v 8 All inhabitants of the earthw will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life,x the Lamby who was slain from the creation of the world.b z

9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.a

10 “If anyone is to go into captivity,

into captivity they will go.

If anyone is to be killedc with the sword,

with the sword they will be killed.”d b

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulnessc on the part of God’s people.d

The Beast out of the Earth

11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth.e It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.f 12 It exercised all the authorityg of the first beast on its behalf,h and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast,i whose fatal wound had been healed.j 13 And it performed great signs,k even causing fire to come down from heavenl to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signsm it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceivedn the inhabitants of the earth.o It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.p 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worshipq the image to be killed.r 16 It also forced all people, great and small,s rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,t 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark,u which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.v

18 This calls for wisdom.w Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.e x That number is 666.

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb,y standing on Mount Zion,z and with him 144,000a who had his name and his Father’s nameb written on their foreheads.c 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing watersd and like a loud peal of thunder.e The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.f 3 And they sang a new songg before the throne and before the four living creaturesh and the elders.i No one could learn the song except the 144,000j who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins.k They follow the Lamb wherever he goes.l They were purchased from among mankindm and offered as firstfruitsn to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths;o they are blameless.p

The Three Angels

6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair,q and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earthr—to every nation, tribe, language and people.s 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear Godt and give him glory,u because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who madev the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”w

8 A second angel followed and said, “ ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’a x which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”y

9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beastz and its imagea and receives its mark on their foreheadb or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury,c which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath.d They will be tormented with burning sulfure in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever.f There will be no rest day or nightg for those who worship the beast and its image,h or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”i 12 This calls for patient endurancej on the part of the people of Godk who keep his commandsl and remain faithful to Jesus.

13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lordm from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit,n “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress

14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud,o and seated on the cloud was one like a son of manb p with a crownq of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the templer and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickles and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvestt of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.u 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altarv and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sicklew and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.x 20 They were trampled in the winepressy outside the city,z and blooda flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.c