The Woman and the Dragon

1 And a great ^psign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red ^qdragon, with ^rseven heads and ^sten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down ^ta third of the stars of heaven and ^ucast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is ^vto rule¹ all the nations ^wwith a rod of iron, but her child was caught 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 ^x1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

7 Now war arose in heaven, ^yMichael and his 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 the great dragon was ^zthrown down, ^athat ancient serpent, who is called the ^bdevil and Satan, the ^cdeceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a ^dloud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the ^eauthority of ^fhis Christ have come, for the ^gaccuser of our brothers² has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have ^hconquered him by the blood of the ⁱLamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^jthey loved not their lives even ^kunto death. 12 Therefore, ^lrejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^mwoe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two ⁿwings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^ofor a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like 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 to make war on the rest of her offspring, on ^pthose who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood³ on the sand of the sea.

Make Your Face Shine upon Us

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.