A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with
the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She
was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then
another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and
seven crowns on his heads. 4His
tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon
stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child
the moment it was born.5She
gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And
her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The
woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken
care of for 1,260 days.
7And
there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon
and his angels fought back.8But
he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The
great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who
leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10Then
I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our
God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They
overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore
rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."
13When
the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given
birth to the male child.14The
woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place
prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and
half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15Then
from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her
away with the torrent. 16But
the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon
had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then
the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her
offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
