Revelation 13

The Two Beasts

1 I saw a beast rise out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads. It wore ten crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.

2 The beast looked like a leopard, with bear’s feet and a lion’s mouth. The dragon handed it his power, throne, and great authority.

3 One head looked fatally wounded, but the deadly wound was healed. The whole world was amazed and followed the beast.

4 People worshiped the dragon for giving authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast, saying, “Who can compare with it, Who can fight against it?”

5 The beast was given a mouth full of proud words and blasphemy, and it was allowed to operate for forty-two months.

6 It opened its mouth to insult God, His name, His dwelling, and everyone living in heaven.

7 It was allowed to wage war against God’s people and conquer them for a time. It received authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation.

8 Everybody living on earth whose name was not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, the Lamb slain from the world’s foundation, worshiped the beast.

9 Anybody with ears needs to listen.

10 If someone is destined for captivity, into captivity they will go. If someone kills by the sword, by the sword they will fall. This is where God’s people need endurance and faith.

11 Then I saw another beast coming up from the earth. It had two horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon.

12 It exercised all the first beast’s authority and made the earth worship the first beast whose deadly wound had healed.

13 It performed spectacular signs, even calling fire down from heaven to earth in front of everybody.

14 It deceived the earth through those signs and told the people to build an image honoring the beast that survived the sword wound.

15 It was allowed to give breath to the image so the image could speak and order the death of everyone who refused to worship it.

16 It forced everybody, small and great, rich and poor, free and enslaved, to receive a mark on the right hand or forehead.

17 Nobody could buy or sell without that mark: the beast’s name or the number representing its name.

18 Wisdom is needed here. Let the person with understanding calculate the beast’s number, because it is a human number: 666.