Revelation 12–22

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

THE LAMB AND THE 144,000

14Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion,^d and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.^{e 2}I heard a sound^G from heaven like the sound of cascading waters^f and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps.^{g 3}They sang^H a new song^h before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders,ⁱ but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins.^j These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed^I from humanity as the firstfruits^k for God and the Lamb. ⁵No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.^l

THE PROCLAMATION OF THREE ANGELS

⁶Then I saw another angel^m flying high overhead,ⁿ with the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.^{o 7}He spoke with a loud voice:^p “Fear God^q and give him glory,^r because the hour of his judgment has come.^s Worship the one who made heaven and earth,^t the sea and the springs of water.”

⁸And another, a second angel, followed, saying, “It has fallen, Babylon the Great^u has fallen.^J She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality,^K which brings wrath.”^v

⁹And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger.^w He will be tormented with fire and sulfur^x in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, ¹¹and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever.^y There is no rest^Az day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark^aa of its name. ¹²This calls for endurance from the saints,^ab who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”^B

¹³Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”^ac

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they will rest from their labors, since their works follow them.”

REAPING THE EARTH’S HARVEST

¹⁴Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Man^Cad was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.”^{ae 16}So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

¹⁷Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the temple in heaven. ¹⁸Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes have ripened.” ¹⁹So the angel swung his sickle at the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.^{af 20}Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles.^Dag

PREPARATION FOR THE BOWL JUDGMENTS

15Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign^E in heaven:^ah seven angels with the seven last plagues; for with them God’s wrath will be completed.^{ai 2}I also saw something like a sea of glass^a mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory over the beast, its image,^F and the number of its name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God.^{b 3}They sang the song of God’s servant Moses^c and the song of the Lamb:

Great and awe-inspiring are your works,

Lord God, the Almighty;

just and true^d are your ways,

King of the nations.^Ge

⁴Lord, who will not fear

and glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.^f

All the nations will come

and worship before you^g

because your righteous acts

have been revealed.

⁵After this I looked, and the heavenly temple—the tabernacle of testimony^h—was opened.^{i 6}Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes wrapped around their chests. ⁷One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.^{j 8}Then the…