Revelation 13
The First Beast
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, awith ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and bblasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was alike a leopard; its feet were like ba bear’s, and its mouth was like ca lion’s mouth. And to it dthe dragon gave his power and ehis throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and athe 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, a“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, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed ato make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all awho dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in bthe book of life of cthe Lamb dwho was slain. 9 aIf anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 aIf anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
bif anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
cHere is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
The Second Beast
11 Then aI 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, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, awhose mortal wound was healed. 13 aIt performs great signs, even bmaking 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 the beast ait deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast bthat 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 aworship the image of the beast bto be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, ato 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, athe name of the beast or bthe number of its name. 18 aThis calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number bof a man, and his number is 666. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.