13:1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the ①seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads were blasphemous names.
▷ ①Lit sea
13:2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne, and great authority.
13:3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been ①fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;
▷ ①Lit slaughtered to death
13:4 they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”
13:5 A mouth was given to him speaking ①arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.
▷ ①Lit great things
13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
13:7 It was also given to him to make war with the ①saints and to overcome them, and authority was given to him over every tribe, people, language, and nation.
▷ ①Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
13:8 All who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been ①written since the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slaughtered.
▷ ①Or written in the book...slain from the foundation of the world
13:9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
13:10 If anyone ①is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the ②perseverance and the faith of the ③saints.
▷ ①Or leads into captivity ②Or steadfastness ③See note v 7
13:11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.
13:12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast ①in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who live on it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
▷ ①Or by his authority
13:13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the presence of people.
13:14 And he deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform ①in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
▷ ①Or by the authority of
13:15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even ①speak and cause all who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
▷ ①One early ms speak, and he will cause
13:16 And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, ①to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,
▷ ①Lit so that they give them a mark
13:17 and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a ①man; and his number is ②six hundred and sixty-six.
▷ ①Or human ②I.e., spelled out in Gr as 600 + 60 + 6; one early ms has the letters for 616