Revelation 12–16

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. ²Then being with child, she cried out ^ain labor and in pain to give birth.

³And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, ^ba great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. ^4cHis tail drew a third ^dof the stars of heaven ^eand threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood ^fbefore the woman who was ready to give birth, ^gto devour her Child as soon as it was born. ⁵She bore a male Child ^hwho was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was ⁱcaught up to God and His throne. ⁶Then ^jthe woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there ^kone thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Satan Thrown Out of Heaven

⁷And war broke out in heaven: ^lMichael and his angels fought ^mwith the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, ⁸but they ¹did not prevail, nor was a place found for ²them in heaven any longer. ⁹So ⁿthe great dragon was cast out, ^othat serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, ^pwho deceives the whole world; ^qhe was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ^r“Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, ^swho accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. ¹¹And ^tthey overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, ^uand they did not love their lives to the death. ¹²Therefore ^vrejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! ^wWoe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, ^xbecause he knows that he has a short time.”

The Woman Persecuted

¹³Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted ^ythe woman who gave birth to the male Child. ^14zBut the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, ^athat she might fly ^binto the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished ^cfor a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. ¹⁵So the serpent ^dspewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. ¹⁶But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus ³Christ.

The Beast from the Sea

13Then ¹I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw ^aa beast rising up out of the sea, ^bhaving ²seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a ^cblasphemous name. ²Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The ^ddragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. ³And I saw one of his heads ^eas if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And ^fall the world marveled and followed the beast. ⁴So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^g“Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

⁵And he was given ^ha mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to ³continue for ⁱforty-two months. ⁶Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, ^jHis tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. ⁷It was granted to him ^kto make war with the saints and to overcome them. And ^lauthority was given him over every ⁴tribe, tongue, and nation. ⁸All who dwell on the earth will worship him, ^mwhose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain ⁿfrom the foundation of the world.

^9oIf anyone has an ear, let him hear. ^10pHe who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; ^qhe who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. ^rHere is the ⁵patience and the faith of the saints.

The Beast from the Earth

¹¹Then I saw another beast ^scoming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. ¹²And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, ^twhose deadly wound was healed. ^13uHe performs great signs, ^vso that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. ^14wAnd he deceives ⁶those who dwell on the earth—^xby those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword ^yand lived. ¹⁵He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak ^zand cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, ^ato receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷and that no one may buy or sell except one who has ⁷the mark or ^bthe name of the beast, ^cor the number of his name.

^18dHere is wisdom. Let him who has ^eunderstanding calculate ^fthe number of the beast, ^gfor it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

The Lamb and the 144,000

14Then I looked, and behold, ¹a ^aLamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him ^bone hundred and forty-four thousand, ²having His Father’s name ^cwritten on their foreheads. ²And I heard a voice from heaven, ^dlike the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of ^eharpists playing their harps. ³They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song ^fexcept the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. ⁴These are the ones who were not defiled with women, ^gfor they are virgins. These are the ones ^hwho follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These ⁱwere ³redeemed from among men, ^jbeing firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. ⁵And ^kin their mouth was found no ⁴deceit, for ^lthey are without fault ⁵before the throne of God.

The Proclamations of Three Angels

⁶Then I saw another angel ^mflying in the midst of heaven, ⁿhaving the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—^oto every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—⁷saying with a loud voice, ^p“Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; ^qand worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

⁸And another angel followed, saying, ^r“Babylon ⁶is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because ^sshe has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

⁹Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ^t“If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his ^umark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰he himself ^vshall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is ^wpoured out full strength into ^xthe cup of His indignation. ^yHe shall be tormented with ^zfire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹And ^athe smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

^12bHere is the ⁷patience of the saints; ^chere ⁸are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

¹³Then I heard a voice from heaven saying ⁹to me, “Write: ^d‘Blessed are the dead ^ewho die in the Lord from now on.’ ”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, ^f“that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow ^gthem.”

Reaping the Earth’s Harvest

¹⁴Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. ¹⁵And another angel ^hcame out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ⁱ“Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come ¹for You to reap, for the harvest ^jof the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Reaping the Grapes of Wrath

¹⁷Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

¹⁸And another angel came out from the altar, ^kwho had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, ^l“Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” ¹⁹So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into ^mthe great winepress of the wrath of God. ²⁰And ⁿthe winepress was trampled ^ooutside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, ^pup to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred ²furlongs.

Prelude to the Bowl Judgments

15Then ^aI saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: ^bseven angels having the seven last plagues, ^cfor in them the wrath of God is complete.

²And I saw something like ^da sea of glass ^emingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, ^fover his image and ¹over his mark and over the ^gnumber of his name, standing on the sea of glass, ^hhaving harps of God. ³They sing ⁱthe song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the ^jLamb, saying:

^k“Great and marvelous are Your works,

Lord God Almighty!

^lJust and true are Your ways,

O King of the ²saints!

^4mWho shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?

For You alone are ⁿholy.

For ^oall nations shall come and worship before You,

For Your judgments have been manifested.”

⁵After these things I looked, and ³behold, ^pthe ⁴temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. ⁶And out of the ⁵temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, ^qclothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. ^7rThen one of the four living creatures gave to the seven…