Revelation

The Two Beasts

Then, I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns. On its heads were blasphemous names.

The beast I saw looked like a leopard, with paws like a bear and a mouth like a lion. The dragon passed on his power, his throne, and his great authority to the beast. 

One of its heads seemed to be fatally wounded, but this wound healed. The whole earth wondered, and they followed the beast. 

They bowed before the dragon who had given authority to the beast, and they bowed before the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who can oppose it?” 

The beast was given the ability to speak, and it uttered boastful and blasphemous words against God; it was allowed to exercise its power for forty-two months. 

It spoke blasphemies against God, his name, and his sanctuary—those who already dwell in heaven. 

It was allowed to wage war against the saints and to conquer them. It was given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation; 

this is why all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it—all whose names have not been written in the book of life of the slain Lamb since the foundation of the world. 

Let anyone with ears to hear listen: 

If your lot is to be in prison, you will go to prison; if your lot is to be killed by the sword, you will be slain. For the holy ones, this is a time of endurance and faith.

Then, I saw another beast come up out of the earth with two horns like the lamb but speaking like the dragon. 

This second beast is entirely under the control of the first one and enjoys its authority. So, it causes the world and its inhabitants to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound has been healed. 

It performs great wonders, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of all. 

Through these great wonders, which it can do on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of the earth, convincing them to make a statue of the beast, which, although wounded by the sword, is still alive. 

It has been permitted to breathe life into this statue so that the statue of the beast could speak, and those who refuse to worship it are killed. 

So, this second beast causes everyone—rich and poor, free and enslaved—to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead, 

and no one can buy or sell unless they are marked with the name of the beast or the number of its name. 

Let us see who is wise! If you are clever, you can interpret the number of the beast; it is 666, and it represents the name of a specific person.