Revelation 12:17–13:10

¹⁷Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off ^kto make war on the rest of ^lher offspring, ^mon those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ⁿthe testimony of Jesus. And he stood³ on the sand of the sea.

The First Beast

13And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^owith ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^pblasphemous names on its heads. ²And the beast that I saw was ^qlike a leopard; its feet were like ^ra bear’s, and its mouth was like ^sa lion’s mouth. And to it ^tthe dragon gave his power and ^uhis throne and great authority. ³One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^vthe whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. ⁴And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^w“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵And the beast was given ^xa mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^yforty-two months. ⁶It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,¹ that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷Also it was allowed ^zto make war on the saints and to conquer them.² And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸and all ^awho dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in ^bthe book of life of ^cthe Lamb ^dwho was slain. ^9eIf anyone has an ear, let him hear:

^10fIf anyone is to be taken captive,

to captivity he goes;

^gif anyone is to be slain with the sword,

with the sword must he be slain.

^hHere is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.