Revelation 11–13

The Two Witnesses

11Then I was given a measuring reed ^llike a rod, ^mwith these words: “Go ⁿand measure God’s sanctuary and the altar, and count those who worship there. ²But exclude the courtyard outside the sanctuary. ^oDon’t measure it, because it is given to the nations, ^pqand they will trample the holy city ^rfor 42 months. ^s3I will empower ^tmy two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, ^uvdressed in sackcloth.” ^wx4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord ^yof the earth. ^z5If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies; ^aif anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. ⁶These men have the power to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the days of their prophecy. ^bThey also have power over the waters to turn them into blood ^cand to strike the earth with every plague whenever they want. ^d

The Witnesses Martyred

⁷When they finish their testimony, the beast ^efthat comes up out of the abyss ^gwill make war with them, conquer them, and kill them. ⁸Their dead bodies ^hiwill lie in the public square ^jof the great city, ^kwhich prophetically ^lis called Sodom ^mand Egypt, ⁿwhere also their Lord was crucified. ⁹And representatives from ^othe peoples, tribes, languages, and nations ^pwill view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb. ^q10Those who live on the earth will gloat ^rover them and celebrate and send gifts to one another because these two prophets brought judgment to those who live on the earth.

The Witnesses Resurrected

¹¹But after 3½ days, the breath ^sof life ^tfrom God entered them, and they stood on their feet. So great fear fell on those who saw them. ¹²Then they heard ^ua loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them. ^v13At that moment a violent earthquake took place, ^wa tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. ¹⁴The second woe ^xhas passed. Take note: The third woe is coming quickly!

The Seventh Trumpet

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

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom

of our Lord and of His Messiah,

and He will reign forever and ever! ^z

¹⁶The 24 elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying:

We thank You, Lord God, the Almighty,

who is and who was, ^ab

because You have taken Your great power

and have begun to reign. ^c

¹⁸The nations were angry, ^d

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, ^e

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

both small and great, ^f

and the time has come to destroy

those who destroy the earth.

¹⁹God’s sanctuary in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant ^gappeared in His sanctuary. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings of thunder, ^han earthquake, ⁱand severe hail.

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12A great sign ^jappeared in heaven: ^ka woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head. ^l2She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. ^m3Then another sign ⁿappeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon ^ohaving seven heads and 10 horns, ^pand on his heads were seven diadems. ^q4His tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. ^rAnd the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth he might devour her child. ^s5But she gave birth to a Son—a male who is going to shepherd ^tall nations with an iron scepter ^u—and 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, ^vto be fed there ^wfor 1,260 days. ^x

The Dragon Thrown Out of Heaven

⁷Then war broke out in heaven: Michael ^yand his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, ⁸but he could not prevail, ^zand there was no place for them in heaven any longer. ^a9So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, ^bwho is called the Devil ^cand Satan, ^dethe one who deceives the whole world. ^fHe was thrown to earth, and his angels with him. ^g

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of His Messiah

have now come, ^h

because the accuser ⁱof our brothers

has been thrown out:

the one who accuses them

before our God day and night.

¹¹They conquered him

by the blood of the Lamb ^j

and by the word of their testimony, ^k

for they did not love their lives

in the face of death. ^l

¹²Therefore rejoice, you heavens,

and you who dwell in them! ^m

Woe to the earth and the sea,

for the Devil has come down to you

with great fury,

because he knows he has a short time.

The Woman Persecuted

¹³When the dragon saw that he had been thrown to earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. ¹⁴The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, ⁿso that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was fed for a time, times, and half a time. ^op15From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away in a torrent. 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 left to wage war ^qagainst the rest of her offspring ^rs—those who keep God’s commands ^tand have the testimony about Jesus. ^u18He ^vstood on the sand of the sea. ^w

The Beast from the Sea

13And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. ^xHe ^yhad 10 horns and seven heads. On his horns were 10 diadems, ^zand on his heads were blasphemous names. ^ab2The beast I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like a bear’s, and his mouth was like a lion’s mouth. ^cThe dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. ³One of his heads appeared to be fatally wounded, ^dbut his fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. ^ef4They worshiped the dragon ^gbecause he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? ^hWho is able to wage war against him?”

⁵A mouth was given to him to speak boasts and blasphemies. ⁱHe was also given authority to act ^jkfor 42 months. ^l6He began to speak ^mblasphemies against God: to blaspheme His name and His dwelling—those who dwell in heaven. ⁷And he was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. ⁿHe was also given authority ^oover every tribe, people, language, and nation. ^p8All those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book ^qof life ^rof the Lamb who was slaughtered. ^st

⁹If anyone has an ear, he should listen: ^u

¹⁰If anyone is destined for captivity,

into captivity he goes.

If anyone is to be killed ^vwith a sword,

with a sword he will be killed. ^w

This demands the perseverance ^xand faith of the saints. ^y

The Beast from the Earth

¹¹Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb, ^zabut he sounded like a dragon. ¹²He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. ¹³He also performs great signs, ^beven causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people. ^c14He deceives those who live on the earth ^dbecause of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, ^etelling those who live on the earth to make an image ^fof the beast who had the sword wound and yet lived. ¹⁵He was permitted to give a spirit ^gto 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. ^h16And he requires everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark ⁱon his right hand or on his forehead, ^j17so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of his name.

¹⁸Here is wisdom: ^klThe one who has understanding must calculate ^mthe number of the beast, because it is the number of a man. ⁿHis number is 666. ^o