Rev 12-13, Rev 17 | ESV | STEP | And a great sign appeared in heaven : a woman clothed with the sun , with the moon under her feet , and on her head a crown of twelve stars .

Revelation of John 12

The Woman and the Dragon

1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman ^aclothed with ^bthe sun, with ^cthe moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and ^dwas crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great ^ered dragon, ^fwith seven heads and ^gten horns, and on his heads ^hseven diadems. 4 His tail swept down ⁱa third of the stars of heaven and ^jcast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child ^khe might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, ^lone who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was ^mcaught 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 ⁿ1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

7 Now war arose in heaven, ^oMichael and ^phis 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 ^qthe great dragon was thrown down, ^rthat ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, ^sthe deceiver of the whole world— ^the 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 ^uthe salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters} has been thrown down, ^wwho accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And ^xthey have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for ^ythey loved not their lives ^zeven unto death. 12 Therefore, ^aarejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But ^abwoe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because ^ache knows that his time is short!”

13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^adthe woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two ^aewings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^afinto the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^agfor a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water ^ahlike 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 ^aito make war on the rest of ^ajher offspring, ^akon those who keep the commandments of God and hold to ^althe testimony of Jesus. And he stood ^{▼▼Some manuscripts And I stood, connecting the sentence with 13:1} on the sand of the sea.

Revelation of John 13

The First Beast

1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^anwith ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^aoblasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was ^aplike a leopard; its feet were like ^aqa bear’s, and its mouth was like ^ara lion’s mouth. And to it ^asthe dragon gave his power and ^athis throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^authe 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, ^av“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

5 And the beast was given ^awa mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^axforty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, ^{▼▼Or tabernacle} that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed ^azto make war on the saints and to conquer them. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts omit this sentence} And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all ^bbwho dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in ^bcthe book of life of ^bdthe Lamb ^bewho was slain. 9 ^bfIf anyone has an ear, let him hear:

10 ^bgIf anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
^bhif anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
^biHere is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

11 Then ^bjI 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, ^{▼▼Or on its behalf} and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^blwhose mortal wound was healed. 13 ^bmIt performs great signs, even ^bnmaking 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 of ^{▼▼Or on behalf of} the beast ^bpit deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ^bqthat 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 ^brworship the image of the beast ^bsto be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, ^{▼▼Greek bondservant} ^buto 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, ^bvthe name of the beast or ^bwthe number of its name. 18 ^bxThis calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number ^byof a man, and his number is 666. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts 616}

Revelation of John 17

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

1 Then ^caone of the seven angels who had ^cbthe seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^ccthe great prostitute ^cdwho is seated on many waters, 2 ^cewith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^cfwith the wine of whose sexual immorality ^cgthe dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And ^chhe carried me away in the Spirit ^ciinto a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^cja scarlet beast that was full of ^ckblasphemous names, and ^clit had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman ^cmwas arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ^cnwith gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^coa golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of ^cpmystery: ^cq“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk ^crwith the blood of the saints, the blood of ^csthe martyrs of Jesus. ^{▼▼Greek the witnesses to Jesus}

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^cuthe mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw ^cvwas, and is not, and ^cwis about to rise from ^cxthe bottomless pit ^{▼▼Greek the abyss} and ^czgo to destruction. And ^dathe dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^dbthe book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^dcit was and is not and is to come. 9 ^ddThis 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 ^dethat was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And ^dfthe ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings ^dgfor 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 ^dhwill make war on the Lamb, and ^dithe Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^djLord of lords and ^dkKing of kings, and those with him are ^dlcalled and chosen and faithful.”

15 And the angel ^{▼▼Greek he} said to me, ^dn“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And ^dothe ten horns that you saw, they and the beast ^dpwill hate the prostitute. They will make her ^dqdesolate and ^drnaked, and ^dsdevour her flesh and ^dtburn her up with fire, 17 for ^duGod has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and ^dvhanding over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is ^dwthe great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”