16 The second beast forces all people—important and unimportant, rich and poor, free and slaves—to be marked on their right hands or on their foreheads,17 so that no one may buy or sell unless he has the mark, which is the beast's name or the number of its name.18 This calls for wisdom: Let the person who has understanding figure out the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.