12
Two Signs
1 A spectacular sign appeared in the sky: There was a woman who was dressed in the sun, who had the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant. She cried out from labor pains and the agony of giving birth.
3 Another sign appeared in the sky: a huge fiery red serpent with seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky and threw them down to earth. The serpent stood in front of the woman who was going to give birth so that it could devour her child when it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a boy, who is to rule all the nations with an iron scepter. Her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness where God had prepared a place for her so that she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then a war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels had to fight a war with the serpent. The serpent and its angels fought. 8 But it was not strong enough, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The huge serpent was thrown down. That ancient snake, named Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was thrown down to earth. Its angels were thrown down with it.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,
“Now the salvation, power, kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah have come.
The one accusing our brothers and sisters,
the one accusing them day and night in the presence of our God,
has been thrown out.
11 They won the victory over him because of the blood of the lamb
and the word of their testimony.
They didn’t love their life so much that they refused to give it up.
12 Be glad for this reason, heavens and those who live in them.
How horrible it is for the earth and the sea
because the Devil has come down to them with fierce anger,
knowing that he has little time left.”
13 When the serpent saw that it had been thrown down to earth, it persecuted the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14 The woman was given the two wings of the large eagle in order to fly away from the snake to her place in the wilderness, where she could be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time. 15 The snake’s mouth poured out a river of water behind the woman in order to sweep her away. 16 The earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river which had poured out of the serpent’s mouth. 17 The serpent became angry with the woman. So it went away to fight with her other children, the ones who keep God’s commands and hold on to the testimony of Jesus.
18 The serpent stood on the sandy shore of the sea.*
* 12:18 Some translations include this verse at the beginning of 13:1.