Revelation 13
The Message
The Beast from the Sea
13 1-2 And the Dragon stood on the shore of the sea. I saw a Beast rising from the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads—on each horn a crown, and each head inscribed with a blasphemous name. The Beast I saw looked like a leopard with bear paws and a lion’s mouth. The Dragon turned over its power to it, its throne and great authority.
3-4 One of the Beast’s heads looked as if it had been struck a deathblow, and then healed. The whole earth was agog, gaping at the Beast. They worshiped the Dragon who gave the Beast authority, and they worshiped the Beast, exclaiming, “There’s never been anything like the Beast! No one would dare go to war with the Beast!”
5-8 The Beast had a loud mouth, boastful and blasphemous. It could do anything it wanted for forty-two months. It yelled blasphemies against God, blasphemed his Name, blasphemed his Church, especially those already dwelling with God in Heaven. It was permitted to make war on God’s holy people and conquer them. It held absolute sway over all tribes and peoples, tongues and races. Everyone on earth whose name was not written from the world’s foundation in the slaughtered Lamb’s Book of Life will worship the Beast.
9-10 Are you listening to this? They’ve made their bed; now they must lie in it. Anyone marked for prison goes straight to prison; anyone pulling a sword goes down by the sword. Meanwhile, God’s holy people passionately and faithfully stand their ground.
The Beast from Under the Ground
11-12 I saw another Beast rising out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb but sounded like a dragon when it spoke. It was a puppet of the first Beast, made earth and everyone in it worship the first Beast, which had been healed of its deathblow.
13-17 This second Beast worked magical signs, dazzling people by making fire come down from Heaven. It used the magic it got from the Beast to dupe earth dwellers, getting them to make an image of the Beast that received the deathblow and lived. It was able to animate the image of the Beast so that it talked, and then arrange that anyone not worshiping the Beast would be killed. It forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on the right hand or forehead. Without the mark of the name of the Beast or the number of its name, it was impossible to buy or sell anything.
18 Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the Beast. It’s a human number: 666.
Revelation 13
English Standard Version
The First Beast
13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, (A)with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and (B)blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was (C)like a leopard; its feet were like (D)a bear's, and its mouth was like (E)a lion's mouth. And to it (F)the dragon gave his power and (G)his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and (H)the 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, (I)“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
5 And the beast was given (J)a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for (K)forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed (L)to make war on the saints and to conquer them.[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all (M)who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in (N)the book of life of (O)the Lamb (P)who was slain. 9 (Q)If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 (R)If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
(S)if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
(T)Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
The Second Beast
11 Then (U)I 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,[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, (V)whose mortal wound was healed. 13 (W)It performs great signs, even (X)making 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[d] the beast (Y)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast (Z)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 (AA)worship the image of the beast (AB)to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,[e] (AC)to 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, (AD)the name of the beast or (AE)the number of its name. 18 (AF)This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number (AG)of a man, and his number is 666.[f]
Footnotes
- Revelation 13:6 Or tabernacle
- Revelation 13:7 Some manuscripts omit this sentence
- Revelation 13:12 Or on its behalf
- Revelation 13:14 Or on behalf of
- Revelation 13:16 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface
- Revelation 13:18 Some manuscripts 616
Revelation 13
New King James Version
The Beast from the Sea
13 Then [a]I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw (A)a beast rising up out of the sea, (B)having [b]seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a (C)blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The (D)dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads (E)as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And (F)all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, (G)“Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
5 And he was given (H)a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to [c]continue for (I)forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, (J)His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him (K)to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And (L)authority was given him over every [d]tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, (M)whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain (N)from the foundation of the world.
9 (O)If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 (P)He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; (Q)he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. (R)Here is the [e]patience and the faith of the saints.
The Beast from the Earth
11 Then I saw another beast (S)coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, (T)whose deadly wound was healed. 13 (U)He performs great signs, (V)so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 (W)And he deceives [f]those who dwell on the earth (X)by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword (Y)and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak (Z)and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, (AA)to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has [g]the mark or (AB)the name of the beast, (AC)or the number of his name.
18 (AD)Here is wisdom. Let him who has (AE)understanding calculate (AF)the number of the beast, (AG)for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
Footnotes
- Revelation 13:1 NU he
- Revelation 13:1 NU, M ten horns and seven heads
- Revelation 13:5 M make war
- Revelation 13:7 NU, M add and people
- Revelation 13:10 perseverance
- Revelation 13:14 M my own people
- Revelation 13:17 NU, M the mark, the name
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
