4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.

10 “If anyone is to go into captivity,

into captivity they will go.

If anyone is to be killed with the sword,

with the sword they will be killed.”

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.

4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

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

10 If anyone is to be taken captive,

to captivity he goes;

if anyone is to be slain with the sword,

with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

4 They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they also worshiped the beast. “Who is as great as the beast?” they exclaimed. “Who is able to fight against him?”

5 Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months. 6 And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling—that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. 8 And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.

9 Anyone with ears to hear

should listen and understand.

10 Anyone who is destined for prison

will be taken to prison.

Anyone destined to die by the sword

will die by the sword.

This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.

4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given his power to the beast. And they also worshiped the beast, asking, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against it?”

5 The beast was allowed to say proud words and words against God, and it was allowed to use its power for forty-two months. 6 It used its mouth to speak against God, against God’s name, against the place where God lives, and against all those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to make war against God’s holy people and to defeat them. It was given power over every tribe, people, language, and nation. 8 And all who live on earth will worship the beast—all the people since the beginning of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lamb is the One who was killed.

9 Anyone who has ears should listen:

10 If you are to be a prisoner,

then you will be a prisoner.

If you are to be killed with the sword,

then you will be killed with the sword.

This means that God’s holy people must have patience and faith.

4 and they worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? and who is able to war with him? 5 and there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given to him authority to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, even them that dwell in the heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. 8 And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain. 9 If any man hath an ear, let him hear. 10 If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

4 And they did homage to the dragon, because he gave the authority to the beast; and they did homage to the beast, saying, Who is like to the beast? and who can make war with it? 5 And there was given to it a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given to it authority to pursue its career forty-two months. 6 And it opened its mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and those who have their tabernacle in the heaven. 7 And there was given to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them; and there was given to it authority over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation; 8 and all that dwell on the earth shall do it homage, every one whose name had not been written from the founding of the world in the book of life of the slain Lamb. 9 If any one has an ear, let him hear. 10 If any one leads into captivity, he goes into captivity. If any one shall kill with the sword, he must with the sword be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.

4 They worshiped the serpent because it had given authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast and said, “Who is like the beast? Who can fight a war with it?” 5 The beast was allowed to speak arrogant and insulting things. It was given authority to act for 42 months. 6 It opened its mouth to insult God, to insult his name and his tent—those who are living in heaven. 7 It was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. It was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. 8 Everyone living on earth will worship it, everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life. That book belongs to the lamb who was slaughtered before the creation of the world. 

9 If anyone has ears, let him listen: 

10 If anyone is taken prisoner, he must go to prison. 

If anyone is killed with a sword, with a sword he must be killed. 

In this situation God’s holy people need endurance and confidence. 

4 They worshiped the dragon because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to wage war against him?”

5 A mouth was given to him to speak boasts and blasphemies. He was also given authority to act for 42 months. 6 He began to speak blasphemies against God: to blaspheme His name and His dwelling—those who dwell in heaven. 7 And he was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. He was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. 8 All those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

9 If anyone has an ear, he should listen:

10 If anyone is destined for captivity,

into captivity he goes.

If anyone is to be killed with a sword,

with a sword he will be killed.

This demands the perseverance and faith of the saints.

4 They worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

5 The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. It was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.

9 Let anyone who has an ear listen:

10 If you are to be taken captive,

into captivity you go;

if you kill with the sword,

with the sword you must be killed.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

4 And they worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to make war with him?

5 And a mouth was given to him speaking great things and blasphemies, and authority to act was given to him for forty-two months. 6 And he opened his mouth for blasphemies toward God, to blaspheme his name and his dwelling, those who live in heaven. 7 And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given to him over every tribe and people and language and nation. 8 And all those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name is not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear!

10 If anyone is going into captivity, into captivity he goes.

If anyone is to be killed by the sword, by the sword he is to be killed.

Here is the patient endurance and the faith of the saints.

4 People 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?”

5 The beast was given a mouth to brag and speak evil things against God. The beast was allowed to use his authority for 42 months. 6 He 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. 7 He was allowed to make war against God’s people and to overcome them. He was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

8 All 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.

9 Everyone who has ears should listen.

10 Everyone 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.

4 they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”

5 There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.

6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

7 It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.

8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.

10 If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.