The First Beast

13 And I saw a beast rising ^qout of the sea, with ten horns and ^rseven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was ^slike a leopard; its feet were ^tlike a bear’s, and its mouth was ^ulike a lion’s mouth. And to it the ^vdragon gave his power and ^whis throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth ^xmarveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they ^yworshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^z“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

5 And the beast was given ^aa mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^bforty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,¹ that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed ^cto make war on the saints and to ^dconquer them.² And authority was given it over every ^etribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the ^fbook of life of the ^gLamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ^hear, let him hear:

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

The Second Beast

11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and ^kit spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,³ and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great ^lsigns, even making fire ^mcome down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of⁴ the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that 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 ⁿworship the image of the beast ^oto be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,⁵ to be marked on the right hand or the ^pforehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has ^qthe mark, that is, the name of the beast or ^rthe number of its name. 18 ^sThis calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.⁶

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the ^tLamb, and with him ^u144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name ^vwritten on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven ^wlike the roar of many waters and ^xlike the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a ^ynew song before the throne and before the ^zfour living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been ^aredeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^bfirstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and ^cin their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel ^dto proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every ^enation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, ^f“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^g“Fallen, fallen is ^hBabylon the great, she who made all nations drink the ⁱwine of the passion¹ of her sexual immorality.”

9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his ^jforehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the ^kwine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with ^lfire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And ^mthe smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, ⁿday or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives ^othe mark of its name.”

12 ^pHere is a call for the endurance of the saints, ^qthose who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.²

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ^r“Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may ^srest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, ^tand seated on the cloud ^uone like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^v“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ^wwinepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.³

The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

15 Then I saw another ^xsign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

2 And I saw what appeared to be a ^ysea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had ^zconquered the beast and its image and ^athe number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing ^bthe song of Moses, the servant of God, and ^cthe song of the Lamb, saying,

5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the ⁱtent² of witness in heaven ^jwas opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, ^kwith golden sashes around their chests. 7 And one of the ^lfour living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8 and the sanctuary ^mwas filled with ⁿsmoke from the glory of God and from his power, and ^ono one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven ^pangels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful ^qsores came upon the people who bore ^rthe mark of the beast and ^sworshiped its image.

3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it ^tbecame like the blood of a corpse, and ^uevery living thing died that was in the sea.

4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters¹ say,

7 And I heard the ^yaltar saying,

8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed² the name of God who had power over these plagues. They ^adid not repent and give him glory.

10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on ^bthe throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into ^cdarkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, ^dand its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of ^ethe dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of ^fthe false prophet, three unclean spirits like ^gfrogs. 14 For they are demonic spirits, ^hperforming signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to ⁱassemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming ^jlike a thief! Blessed is the one who ^kstays awake, ^lkeeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a ^mloud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, ⁿ“It is done!” 18 And there were ^oflashes of lightning, rumblings,³ peals of thunder, and a ^pgreat earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 ^qThe great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and ^rGod remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the ^scup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And ^tevery island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great ^uhailstones, about one hundred pounds⁴ each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the ^vplague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17 Then one of the ^wseven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the ^xgreat prostitute ^ywho is seated on many waters, 2 ^zwith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the ^awine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he ^bcarried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of ^cblasphemous names, and it had ^dseven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed ^ein purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a ^fgolden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her ^gforehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, ^hdrunk with the ⁱblood of the saints, the blood of the 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 the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw ^jwas, and is not, and is about to ^krise from the bottomless pit² and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the ^lbook of life from the foundation of the world will ^mmarvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 ⁿThis 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 that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And ^othe ten horns that you saw are ten ^pkings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for 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 will make war on the ^qLamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^rLord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

15 And the angel³ said to me, “The waters that you saw, ^swhere the prostitute is seated, are ^tpeoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is ^uthe great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”