11I was given a long stick that looked like a measuring rod. I was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar. Count the worshipers who are there. ²But do not measure the outer courtyard. It has been given to those who aren’t Jews. They will overrun the holy city for 42 months.

³“I will give power to my two witnesses. They will prophesy for 1,260 days. They will be dressed in black clothes to show how sad they are.”

⁴The witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand in front of the Lord of the earth. ⁵If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and eats up their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.

⁶These witnesses have power to close up the sky. Then it will not rain while they are prophesying. They also have power to turn the waters into blood. And they can strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want to.

⁷When they have finished giving their witness, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them. He will overpower them and kill them. ⁸Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city where their Lord was nailed to the cross. The city is sometimes pictured as Sodom, or as Egypt.

⁹For three and a half days, people from every tribe, language and nation will stare at their bodies. They will refuse to bury them. ¹⁰Those who live on the earth will be happy about this and will celebrate. They will send each other gifts, because these two prophets had made them suffer.

¹¹But after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered the two witnesses. They stood up. Terror struck those who saw them.

¹²Then the two witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven. It said to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud. Their enemies watched it happen.

¹³At that very hour there was a powerful earthquake. A tenth of the city crumbled and fell. In the earthquake, 7,000 people were killed. Those who lived through it were terrified. They gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second terrible judgment has passed. The third is coming soon.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵The seventh angel blew his trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven. They said,

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.

He will rule for ever and ever.”

¹⁶The 24 elders were sitting on their thrones in front of God. They fell on their faces and worshiped God. ¹⁷They said,

“Lord God who rules over all, we give thanks to you.

You are the One who is and who was.

We give you thanks because you have taken your great power

and have begun to rule.

¹⁸The nations were angry,

and the time for your anger has come.

The time has come to judge the dead.

It is time to reward your servants the prophets

and your own people and those who honor you.

There is a reward for all your people,

both great and small.

It is time to destroy

those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹Then God’s temple in heaven was opened. Inside it the wooden chest called the ark of his covenant could be seen. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

The Woman and the Dragon

12A great and miraculous sign appeared in heaven. It was a woman wearing the sun like clothes. The moon was under her feet. On her head she wore a crown of 12 stars. ²She was pregnant. She cried out in pain because she was about to have a baby.

³Then another sign appeared in heaven. It was a huge red dragon. He had seven heads and ten horns. On his seven heads he wore seven crowns. ⁴His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky. It threw them down to earth.

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to have a baby. He wanted to eat her child the moment it was born.

⁵She gave birth to a son. He will rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was taken up to God and to his throne.

⁶The woman escaped into the desert where God had a place prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for 1,260 days.

⁷There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸But the dragon wasn’t strong enough. He and his angels lost their place in heaven.

⁹The great dragon was thrown down to the earth, and his angels with him. The dragon is that old serpent called the devil, or Satan. He leads the whole world down the wrong path.

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven. It said,

“Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God have come.

The authority of his Christ has come.

Satan, who brings charges against our brothers and sisters,

has been thrown down.

He brings charges against them before our God day and night.

¹¹They overcame him

because the Lamb gave his life’s blood for them.

They overcame him

by giving witness about Jesus to others.

They were willing to risk their lives,

even if it led to death.

¹²So be joyful, you heavens!

Be glad, all you who live there!

But how terrible it will be for the earth and the sea!

The devil has come down to you.

He is very angry.

He knows his time is short.”

¹³The dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth. So he chased the woman who had given birth to the boy.

¹⁴The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she could fly away. She could fly to the place prepared for her in the desert. There she would be taken care of for three and a half years. She would be out of the serpent’s reach.

¹⁵Then the serpent spit water like a river out of his mouth. He wanted to catch her and sweep her away in the flood. ¹⁶But the earth helped the woman. It opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had spit out.

¹⁷The dragon was very angry with the woman. He went off to make war against the rest of her children. They obey God’s commands and hold firmly to what Jesus has said. 13The dragon stood on the seashore.

The Beast out of the Sea

I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads. There were ten crowns on his horns. On each head was an evil name that was displeasing to God.

²The beast I saw looked like a leopard. But he had feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority. ³One of the beast’s heads seemed to have had a deadly wound. But the wound had been healed. The whole world was amazed and followed the beast.

⁴People worshiped the dragon, because he had given authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast. They asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”

⁵The beast was given a mouth to brag and speak evil things against God. The beast was allowed to use his authority for 42 months. ⁶He opened his mouth to speak evil things against God. He told lies about God’s character and about the place where God lives and about those who live in heaven with him. ⁷He was allowed to make war against God’s people and to overcome them. He was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

⁸All who live on earth whose names have not been written in the Book of Life will worship the beast. The Book of Life belongs to the Lamb whose death was planned before the world was created.

⁹Everyone who has ears should listen.

¹⁰Everyone who is supposed to be captured

will be captured.

Everyone who is supposed to be killed with a sword

will be killed with a sword.

So God’s people must be patient and faithful.

The Beast out of the Earth

¹¹Then I saw another beast. This one came out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb. But he spoke like a dragon. ¹²He had all the authority of the first beast. He did what that beast wanted. He made the earth and all who live on it worship the first beast. The first beast was the one whose deadly wound had been healed.

¹³The second beast did great and miraculous signs. He even made fire come from heaven. It came down to earth where everyone could see it. ¹⁴He did the signs the first beast wanted him to do. In that way the second beast tricked those who live on the earth. He ordered them to set up a statue to honor the first beast.

The first beast was the one who had been wounded by the sword and still lived.

¹⁵The second beast was allowed to give breath to the statue so it could speak. He was allowed to kill all who refused to worship the statue. ¹⁶He also forced everyone to receive a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. People great or small, rich or poor, free or slave had to receive the mark. ¹⁷They could not buy or sell anything unless they had the mark. The mark is the name of the beast or the number of his name.

¹⁸Here is a problem that you have to be wise to figure out. If you can, figure out what the beast’s number means. It is man’s number. His number is 666.

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