Chapter 12

¹Then a great portent appeared in the sky—a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ²She was soon to have a child, and she cried out with pain and agony in giving birth to it. ³Another portent appeared in the sky—there was a great fire-red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven diadems on his heads. ⁴His tail swept away one third of the stars of heaven and flung them down upon the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth to a child in order to devour her child as soon as it was born. ⁵She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to shepherd all the heathen with a staff of iron; and her child was caught up to God, to his throne. ⁶Then the woman fled into the desert, where there was a place prepared by God for her, where she was to be taken care of for 1,260 days.

⁷Then war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought ⁸but they were defeated, and there was no place for them any longer in heaven. ⁹So the great dragon, the ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. ¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,

“The deliverance and power and reign of our God, and the authority of his Christ have now come, for the accuser of our brothers, who kept bringing charges against them day and night before our God, has been hurled down. ¹¹They have conquered him because of the Lamb’s blood, and the message to which they bore testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death. ¹²Therefore, rejoice, you heavens and you who live in them! But alas for the earth and the sea, for the devil has descended upon you in a great rage, for he knows that he has only a short time left.”

¹³When the dragon saw that he had been hurled down to the earth, he went in pursuit of the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴But the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to her place in the desert, where she is to be taken care of for a time, times, and a half-time, on account of the serpent. ¹⁵Then the serpent poured water from his mouth after the woman like a river, to sweep her away. ¹⁶But the earth helped the woman, for the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured out of his mouth. ¹⁷So the dragon was enraged at the woman, and he went off to make war on the rest of her children—those who obey God’s commands and adhere to the testimony of Jesus.