English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
1
And the Dragon stood on the shore of the sea. I saw a Beast rising from the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads - on each horn a crown, and each head inscribed with a blasphemous name.
2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.
2
The Beast I saw looked like a leopard with bear paws and a lion's mouth. The Dragon turned over its power to it, its throne and great authority.
3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
3
One of the Beast's heads looked as if it had been struck a deathblow, and then healed. The whole earth was agog, gaping at the Beast.
4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"
4
They worshiped the Dragon who gave the Beast authority, and they worshiped the Beast, exclaiming, "There's never been anything like the Beast! No one would dare go to war with the Beast!"
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.
5
The Beast had a loud mouth, boastful and blasphemous. It could do anything it wanted for forty-two months.
6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
6
It yelled blasphemies against God, blasphemed his Name, blasphemed his Church, especially those already dwelling with God in Heaven.
7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,
7
It was permitted to make war on God's holy people and conquer them. It held absolute sway over all tribes and peoples, tongues and races.
8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
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Everyone on earth whose name was not written from the world's foundation in the slaughtered Lamb's Book of Life will worship the Beast.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
9
Are you listening to this?
10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain.Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
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They've made their bed; now they must lie in it. Anyone marked for prison goes straight to prison; anyone pulling a sword goes down by the sword. Meanwhile, God's holy people passionately and faithfully stand their ground.
11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.
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I saw another Beast rising out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb but sounded like a dragon when it spoke.
12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.
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It was a puppet of the first Beast, made earth and everyone in it worship the first Beast, which had been healed of its deathblow.
13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people,
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This second Beast worked magical signs, dazzling people by making fire come down from Heaven.
14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
14
It used the magic it got from the Beast to dupe earth dwellers, getting them to make an image of the Beast that received the deathblow and lived.
15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.
15
It was able to animate the image of the Beast so that it talked, and then arrange that anyone not worshiping the Beast would be killed.
16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,
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It forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on the right hand or forehead.
17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
17
Without the mark of the name of the Beast or the number of its name, it was impossible to buy or sell anything.
18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
18
Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the Beast. It's a human number: six hundred sixty-six.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.