The Two Witnesses

1 Then I was given ^ma measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure ⁿthe court outside the temple; leave that out, for ^oit is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for ^pforty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for ^p1,260 days, ^qclothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are ^rthe two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, ^sfire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, ^tthis is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power ^uto shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and ^vto strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, ^wthe beast that rises from ^xthe bottomless pit^{1 y}will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically² is called ^zSodom and ^aEgypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and ^brefuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and ^cthose who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and ^dexchange presents, because these two prophets ^ehad been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days ^fa breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ^g“Come up here!” And ^hthey went up to heaven ⁱin a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was ^ja great earthquake, and ^ka tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and ^lgave glory to ^mthe God of heaven.

14 ⁿThe second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Woman and the Dragon

1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^eclothed with ^fthe sun, with ^fthe moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and ^gwas crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^hred dragon, ⁱwith seven heads and ^jten horns, and on his heads ^kseven diadems. 4 His tail swept down ^la third of the stars of heaven and ^mcast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child ⁿhe might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, ^oone who is to rule¹ all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^pcaught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for ^q1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

7 Now war arose in heaven, ^rMichael and ^shis angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And ^tthe great dragon was thrown down, ^uthat ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^vthe deceiver of the whole world—^whe was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now ^xthe salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers² has been thrown down, ^ywho accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And ^zthey have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^athey loved not their lives ^beven unto death. 12 Therefore, ^crejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^dwoe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^ehe knows that his time is short!”

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^fthe woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two ^gwings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^hinto the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ⁱfor a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water ^jlike a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then 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

1 And 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. 2 And 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. 3 One 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. 4 And 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?”

5 And the beast was given ^xa mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^yforty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,⁴ that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed ^zto make war on the saints and to conquer them.⁵ And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and 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. 9 ^eIf anyone has an ear, let him hear:

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

The Second Beast

11 Then ⁱI saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,⁶ and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^jwhose mortal wound was healed. 13 ^kIt performs great signs, even ^lmaking fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of⁷ the beast ^mit deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ⁿthat was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not ^oworship the image of the beast ^pto be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{8 q}to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, ^rthe name of the beast or ^sthe number of its name. 18 ^tThis calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number ^uof a man, and his number is 666.⁹

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

1 Then ^vone of the seven angels who had ^wthe seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^xthe great prostitute ^ywho is seated on many waters, 2 ^zwith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^awith the wine of whose sexual immorality ^bthe dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And ^che carried me away in the Spirit ^dinto a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^ea scarlet beast that was full of ^fblasphemous names, and ^git had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman ^hwas arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ⁱwith gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^ja golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of ^kmystery: ^l“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk ^mwith the blood of the saints, the blood of ⁿthe martyrs of Jesus.¹

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^othe mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw ^pwas, and is not, and ^qis about to rise from ^rthe bottomless pit² and ^sgo to destruction. And ^tthe dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^uthe book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^pit was and is not and is to come. 9 ^vThis calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast ^wthat was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And ^xthe ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings ^yfor one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They ^zwill make war on the Lamb, and ^athe Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^bLord of lords and ^bKing of kings, and those with him are ^ccalled and chosen and faithful.”

15 And the angel³ said to me, ^d“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And ^ethe ten horns that you saw, they and the beast ^fwill hate the prostitute. They will make her ^gdesolate and ^hnaked, and ⁱdevour her flesh and ^jburn her up with fire, 17 for ^kGod has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and ^lhanding over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is ^mthe great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”