15 It was permitted to give breathP to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.a 16 And it makes everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,b 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.

18 This calls for wisdom:A,c Let the one who has understanding calculateB the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.C