The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon
1 A great sign 12:1 Or great symbolic display; see Rv 12:3 appeared in heaven: 12:1 Mt 24:30 a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 12:1 Gn 37:9–102 She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. 12:2 Ps 48:6; Is 13:8; Jr 22:233 Then another sign 12:3 Or another symbolic display appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon 12:3 Rv 13:2,4,11; 20:2 having seven heads and ten horns, 12:3 Dn 7:7,20,24; Rv 13:1; 17:3–18 and on its heads were seven crowns. 12:3 Or diadems4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. 12:4 Dn 8:10; Rv 8:7,12 And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child. 12:4 Mt 2:165 She gave birth to a Son, a male who is going to rule 12:5 Or shepherd all nations with an iron rod. 12:5 Ps 2:7–9; Rv 2:27; 19:15 Her child was caught up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, 12:6 Ex 16:4; 1Kg 19:3–8; Hs 2:14 to be nourished there 12:6 Or God, that they might feed her there for 1,260 days. 12:6 Dt 1:31; 2:7; Dn 12:11; Rv 11:2–3; 12:14; 13:5
The Dragon Thrown Out of Heaven
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael 12:7 Dn 10:13,21; 12:1; Jd 9 and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, 12:8 1Sm 2:9; Ps 21:11; Jr 20:11 and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 12:8 Jb 2:19 So the great dragon was thrown out — the ancient serpent, 12:9 Gn 3:1 who is called the devil and Satan, 12:9 Lk 10:18; Rm 16:20; Rv 2:9; 3:9; 20:2,7 the one who deceives the whole world. 12:9 Rv 13:14; 20:3,8,10 He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him. 12:9 Mt 25:41; Lk 10:18; Jn 12:3110 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,
The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ
have now come, 12:10 Rv 11:17; 19:1
because the accuser 12:10 Jb 1:6–12; 2:1–5; Zch 3:1; Rm 8:33–34 of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them
before our God day and night,
has been thrown down.
11 They conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb 12:11 1Pt 1:19; Rv 5:9; 7:14
and by the word of their testimony; 12:11 Rv 6:9
for they did not love their lives
to the point of death. 12:11 Lk 14:26; Jn 12:25; Heb 11:32–37; Rv 2:10
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them! 12:12 Ps 96:11; Is 49:13
Woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has come down to you
with great fury,
because he knows his time is short.
The Woman Persecuted
13 When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he persecuted 12:13 Or pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, 12:14 Ex 19:4; Dt 32:10–11; Is 40:31 so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, times, and half a time. 12:14 Dn 7:25; 12:7; Rv 11:2; 13:515 From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. 17 So the dragon was furious with the woman and went off to wage war 12:17 Rv 11:7; 13:7 against the rest of her offspring 12:17 Or seed, 12:17 Gn 3:15 — those who keep the commands of God 12:17 1Co 7:19 and hold firmly to the testimony about Jesus. 12:17 Rv 1:2,9; 19:10; 20:4
The Beast from the Sea
18 The dragon 12:18 Or he; other mss read I stood on the sand of the sea. 12:18 Some translations put Rv 12:18 either in Rv 12:17 or Rv 13:1.