Revelation 11–13

THE TWO WITNESSES

11Then I was given a measuring reed^z like a rod,^A with these words: “Go^B and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who worship there. ²But exclude the courtyard outside the temple.^aa Don’t measure it, because it is given to the nations,^Cab and they will trample the holy city^ac for forty-two months.^{ad 3}I will grant^D my two witnesses authority to prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth.”^{ae 4}These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord^E of the earth.^{af 5}If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies;^ag if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. ⁶They have authority to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy.^a They also have power over the waters to turn them into blood^b and to strike the earth with every plague whenever they want.^c

THE WITNESSES MARTYRED

⁷When they finish their testimony, the beast^d that comes up out of the abyss^e will make war on them, conquer them, and kill them. ⁸Their dead bodies^Ff will lie in the main street^G of the great city,^g which figuratively^H is called Sodom^h and Egypt,ⁱ where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹And some of^I the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations^j will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb.^{k 10}Those who live on the earth will gloat^l over them and celebrate and send gifts to one another because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

THE WITNESSES RESURRECTED

¹¹But after three and a half days, the breath^J of life^m from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹²Then they heard^K a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.^{n 13}At that moment a violent earthquake took place,^o a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second woe^p has passed. Take note: The third woe is coming soon!

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET

¹⁵The seventh angel blew his trumpet,^q and there were loud voices in heaven saying,

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom

of our Lord and of his Christ,

and he will reign forever and ever.^r

¹⁶The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying,

We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty,

who is and who was,^Ls

because you have taken your great power

and have begun to reign.^t

¹⁸The nations were angry,^u

but your wrath has come.

The time has come

for the dead to be judged

and to give the reward

to your servants the prophets,^v

to the saints, and to those who fear your name,

both small and great,^w

and the time has come to destroy

those who destroy the earth.

¹⁹Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant^A appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder,^x an earthquake,^B and severe hail.

THE WOMAN, THE CHILD, AND THE DRAGON

12A great sign appeared in heaven:^y a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.^{z 2}She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth.^{aa 3}Then another sign^D appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon^ab having seven heads and ten horns,^ac and on its heads were seven crowns.^{E 4}Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.^ad And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child.^{ae 5}She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule^F all nations with an iron rod.^af Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. ⁶The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God,^ag to be nourished there^G for 1,260 days.^ah

THE DRAGON THROWN OUT OF HEAVEN

⁷Then war broke out in heaven: Michael^ai and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, ⁸but he could not prevail,^aj and there was no place for them in heaven any longer.^{ak 9}So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent,^al who is called the devil and Satan,^am the one who deceives the whole world.^a He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.^{b 10}Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,

The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Christ

have now come,^c

because the accuser^d of our brothers and sisters,

who accuses them

before our God day and night,

has been thrown down.

¹¹They conquered him

by the blood of the Lamb^e

and by the word of their testimony;^f

for they did not love their lives

to the point of death.^g

¹²Therefore rejoice, you heavens,

and you who dwell in them!^h

Woe to the earth and the sea,

because the devil has come down to you

with great fury,

because he knows his time is short.

THE WOMAN PERSECUTED

¹³When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted^A the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴The woman was given two wings of a great eagle,ⁱ so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time.^{j 15}From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. ¹⁶But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. ¹⁷So the dragon was furious with the woman and went off to wage war^k against the rest of her offspring^Bl—those who keep the commands of God^m and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus.ⁿ

THE BEAST FROM THE SEA

¹⁸The dragon^C stood on the sand of the sea.

13And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.^o It had ten horns and seven heads. On its horns were ten crowns,^Ep and on its heads were blasphemous names.^{Fq 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.^r The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority. ³One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed.

The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.^{s 4}They worshiped the dragon^t because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast?^u Who is able to wage war against it?”

⁵The beast was given a mouth to utter boasts and blasphemies.^v It was allowed to exercise authority^GH for forty-two months.^{w 6}It began to speak^I blasphemies against God: to blaspheme his name and his dwelling—those who dwell in heaven. ⁷And it was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them.^x It was also given authority^y over every tribe, people, language, and nation.^{z 8}All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book^J of life^aa of the Lamb who was slaughtered.^Kab

⁹If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.^ac

¹⁰If anyone is to be taken captive,

into captivity he goes.

If anyone is to be killed^L with a sword,

with a sword he will be killed.^ad

This calls for endurance^M and faithfulness from the saints.^ae

THE BEAST FROM THE EARTH

¹¹Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb,^Aaf but it spoke like a dragon. ¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. ¹³It also performs great signs,^ag even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people.^{ah 14}It deceives those who live on the earth^ai because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast,^aj telling those who live on the earth to make an image^B of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵It was permitted to give breath^C 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.

¹⁸This calls for wisdom:^Dc Let the one who has understanding calculate^E the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.^F