Revelation 12:1-10

A great sign appeared in heaven. It was a woman wearing the sun like clothes. The moon was under her feet. On her head she wore a crown of 12 stars. She was pregnant. She cried out in pain because she was about to have a baby. Then another sign appeared in heaven. It was a huge red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. On its seven heads it wore seven crowns. The dragon’s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky. It threw the stars down to earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to have a baby. The dragon wanted to eat her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son. He “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was taken up to God and to his throne. The woman escaped into the desert where God had a place prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for 1,260 days. Then a war began in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back. But the dragon wasn’t strong enough. Both he and his angels lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down to the earth, and his angels with him. The dragon is that old serpent called the devil, or Satan. He leads the whole world astray. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven. It said, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God have come. The authority of his Messiah has come. Satan, who brings charges against our brothers and sisters, has been thrown down. He brings charges against them in front of our God day and night.