Revelation 12

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.