Revelation 13

¹And I saw a wild beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on its horns were ten royal diadems, and on its heads were names of blasphemy. ²The beast I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like those of a bear, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and great authority. ³One of its heads appeared as if it had been slaughtered to death, but its fatal wound was healed. The whole earth followed the beast in wide-eyed wonder, ⁴and they bowed down in worship to the dragon because he had given authority to the beast; they also worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? And who is able to wage war against it?”

⁵The beast was given a mouth speaking arrogant boasts and blasphemies, and it was given authority to act for forty-two months. ⁶It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God—to blaspheme his name and his dwelling place, that is, those who dwell in the heavenly tent. ⁷It was also permitted to wage war against the holy ones and to conquer them, and it was given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. ⁸All those who dwell on the earth will worship it—everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was slaughtered.

⁹If anyone has an ear, let them hear: ¹⁰If anyone is destined for captivity, into captivity they go. If anyone is to be killed by the sword, by the sword they must be killed. Here is the enduring persistence and the faithfulness of the holy ones.

¹¹Then I saw another wild beast rising out of the land. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. ¹²It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and those who dwell in it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. ¹³It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of everyone. ¹⁴It deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs it was permitted to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth, “Make an image for the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.”

¹⁵The second beast was permitted to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image of the beast could even speak, and to cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶It also forces everyone—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slave—to be given an etched mark on their right hand or on their forehead, ¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell unless they have the mark: the name of the beast or the number of its name. ¹⁸Here is wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man; his number is six hundred sixty-six.