Revelation 13
13
The Two Beasts
1Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. There was a crown on each horn. A name against God was written on each head. 2This beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear’s feet. He had a mouth like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast all of his power and his throne and great authority. 3One of the heads of the beast looked as if it had been wounded and killed. But this death wound was healed. The whole world was amazed and followed the beast. 4People worshiped the dragon because he had given his power to the beast. And they also worshiped the beast. They asked, “Who is as powerful as the beast? Who can make war against him?”
5The beast was allowed to say proud words and words against God. He was allowed to use his power for 42 months. 6He used his mouth to speak against God. He spoke against God’s name, against the place where God lives, and against all those who live in heaven. 7He was given power to make war against God’s holy people and to defeat them. He was given power over every tribe, people, language, and nation. 8All who live on earth will worship the beast. These are all the people since the beginning of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lamb is the One who was killed.
9If anyone has ears, he should listen:
10If anyone is to be a prisoner,
then he will be a prisoner.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
then he will be killed with the sword.
This means that God’s holy people must have patience and faith.
11Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he talked like a dragon. 12This beast stands before the first beast and uses the same power that the first beast has. He uses this power to make everyone living on earth worship the first beast. The first beast was the one that had the death wound that was healed. 13The second one does great miracles. He even makes fire come down from heaven to earth while people are watching. 14This second beast fools those who live on earth. He fools them by the miracles he has been given the power to do. He does these miracles to serve the first beast. The second beast ordered people to make an idol to honor the first beast. This was the one that was wounded by the sword but did not die. 15The second beast was given power to give life to the idol of the first one. Then the idol could speak and order all who did not worship it to be killed. 16The second animal also forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. 17No one could buy or sell without this mark. This mark is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18Whoever has understanding can find the meaning of the number. This requires wisdom. This number is the number of a man. His number is 666.# Some Greek copies read “616.”
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Revelation 13: ICB
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Revelation 13
13
The Beast from the Sea
1And the #13:1 The dragon, who is Satan, stands at the head of an unholy, idolatrous trinity, comprised also of the first beast, who is the Antichrist (vv 1-10) and has a healed wound, and the second beast, who is the false prophet and deceives unbelievers to worship Antichrist through false signs (vv 11-18).dragon (Satan) stood on the sandy shore of the sea. [Dan 7:7]
Then I saw a [vicious] beast coming up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten royal #13:1 The symbol of political, royal, or military power.crowns (diadems), and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2And the beast that I saw resembled a #13:2 These animals are mentioned in Dan 7:4-6, where the leopard represents Greece, the bear Medo-Persia, and the lion Babylon.leopard, but his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth was like that of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3I saw one of his heads which seemed to have a fatal wound, but his fatal wound was healed; and the entire earth followed after the beast in amazement. 4They fell down and worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; they also worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like (as great as) the beast, and who is able to wage war against him?” 5And the beast was given a mouth (the power of speech), uttering great things and arrogant and blasphemous words, and he was given freedom and authority to act and to do as he pleased for #13:5 The last half of the Tribulation.forty-two months (three and a half years). [Dan 7:8] 6And he opened his mouth to speak blasphemies (abusive speech, slander) against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and those who live in heaven.
7He was also #13:7 Lit given.permitted to wage war against the saints (God’s people) and to overcome them, and authority and power over every tribe and people and language and nation. [Dan 7:21, 25] 8All the inhabitants of the earth will fall down and worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain [as a willing sacrifice]. 9If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10If anyone is destined for captivity, he will go into captivity; if anyone kills with a sword, he must be killed with a sword. Here is [the call for] the patient endurance and the faithfulness of the saints [which is seen in the response of God’s people to difficult times]. [Jer 15:2]
The Beast from the Earth
11Then I saw #13:11 See note v 1.another beast rising up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke like a dragon. [Matt 7:15, 16] 12He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence [when the two are together]. And he makes the earth and those who inhabit it worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13He performs great signs (awe-inspiring acts), even making fire fall from the sky to the earth, right before peoples’ eyes. 14And he deceives those [unconverted ones] who inhabit the earth [into believing him] because of the signs which he is given [by Satan] to perform in the presence of the [first] beast, telling those who inhabit the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded [fatally] by the sword and has come back to life. [Deut 13:1-5; Mark 13:22; 2 Thess 2:9, 10] 15And he is given power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast will even [appear to] speak, and cause those who do not bow down and worship the image of the beast to be put to death. [Dan 3:5] 16Also he compels all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead [signifying allegiance to the beast], 17and that no one will be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18Here is wisdom. Let the person who has enough insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the [imperfect] number of a man; #13:18 Regardless of the earthly power of the two beasts (the demonically controlled Antichrist/dictator and his false prophet) described in these verses, they and their mentor, Satan, fall far short of the power, perfection, and majesty of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, whose perfection is represented biblically by the number seven.and his number is #13:18 This is not actually three sixes (or the equivalent in Greek or Hebrew letters), as commonly represented. Such a combination would not be used; and if it were, the sum would then be only eighteen, because in alphabet-based numbering systems like ancient Hebrew and Greek, place values are not used (10’s, 100’s etc.), but the letters are treated more like Roman numerals. What John is most likely indicating is that the letters of the name will add up to 666 (the best Greek manuscripts have the number spelled out), and there could be many different combinations of letters that would do so. Determining the values of the individual letters is another matter. John probably assumed that the name would be Hebrew or Greek, and in Hebrew vowels for the most part are not represented as letters. Further complications arise when names from other nationalities are considered, and are converted for valuation. For example, at various times it has been argued that the name “Nero Caesar” adds up to 666 when transliterated to Hebrew as NRWN QSR (according to the Greek form); but in the Talmud, the name is transliterated as NYRWN QYSR, which totals 686. Also, the original Latin form of the name (without the second “n”), if converted directly to Hebrew, adds up to 616, and a few ancient manuscripts had that number.six hundred and sixty-six.
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