The Woman and the Dragon
1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
The War in Heaven
7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
The Dragon Persecutes the Woman
13And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
King James Bible
Text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.
The Woman and the Dragon
1 A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth.
3 Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns. 4 His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God, and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days.
The War in Heaven
7 There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war. 8 They didn’t prevail, neither was a place found for him any more in heaven. 9 The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death. 12 Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”
The Woman Persecuted
13 When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. 16 The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth. 17 The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.
The Woman and the Dragon
1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and crying out in the pain and agony of giving birth.
3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, tossing them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.
5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. a And her child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.
The War in Heaven
7 Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels. 9 And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of His Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—
he who accuses them day and night before our God.
11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony.
And they did not love their lives
so as to shy away from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens,
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea;
with great fury the devil has come down to you,
knowing he has only a short time.”
The Woman Persecuted
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
15 Then from the mouth of the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away in the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth to swallow up the river that had poured from the dragon’s mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. b
Footnotes:
5 a See Psalm 2:9 (see also LXX).
17 b Literally And he stood on the sand of the sea. BYZ and TR And I stood on the sand of the sea. Some texts number this sentence as verse 18; others include it with Revelation 13:1.
The Woman and the Dragon
1And a great sign was seen in the heaven, a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars, 2and being with child she doth cry out, travailing and pained to bring forth.
3And there was seen another sign in the heaven, and, lo, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his head seven diadems, 4and his tail doth draw the third of the stars of the heaven, and he did cast them to the earth; and the dragon did stand before the woman who is about to bring forth, that when she may bring forth, her child he may devour;
5and she brought forth a male child, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and caught away was her child unto God and His throne, 6and the woman did flee to the wilderness, where she hath a place made ready from God, that there they may nourish her -- days a thousand, two hundred, sixty.
The War in Heaven
7And there came war in the heaven; Michael and his messengers did war against the dragon, and the dragon did war, and his messengers, 8and they did not prevail, nor was their place found any more in the heaven; 9and the great dragon was cast forth -- the old serpent, who is called 'Devil,' and 'the Adversary,' who is leading astray the whole world -- he was cast forth to the earth, and his messengers were cast forth with him. 10And I heard a great voice saying in the heaven, 'Now did come the salvation, and the power, and the reign, of our God, and the authority of His Christ, because cast down was the accuser of our brethren, who is accusing them before our God day and night; 11and they did overcome him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life -- unto death; 12because of this be glad, ye heavens, and those in them who do tabernacle; woe to those inhabiting the land and the sea, because the Devil did go down unto you, having great wrath, having known that he hath little time.'
The Dragon Persecutes the Woman
13And when the dragon saw that he was cast forth to the earth, he pursued the woman who did bring forth the male, 14and there were given to the woman two wings of the great eagle, that she may fly to the wilderness, to her place, where she is nourished a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent; 15and the serpent did cast forth after the woman, out of his mouth, water as a river, that he may cause her to be carried away by the river, 16and the land did help the woman, and the land did open its mouth and did swallow up the river, that the dragon did cast forth out of his mouth; 17and the dragon was angry against the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, those keeping the commands of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The Favor of God paraphrase
The Woman and the Dragon
¹ A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. ³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. ⁴ Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to His throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
War in Heaven
⁷ Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of His Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
¹¹ They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
The Dragon Pursues the Woman
¹³ When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. ¹⁵ Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
Footnotes:
1.The “woman clothed with the sun” (verse 1) is often interpreted as a symbol of Israel, the people of God, or even the Church. The twelve stars represent the twelve tribes of Israel or the twelve apostles, connecting the woman to God’s covenant community.
2.The “enormous red dragon” (verse 3) represents Satan, with seven heads and ten horns symbolizing great power and authority. The crowns reflect his influence over the kingdoms of the earth, but his role is one of deception and destruction.
3.The “male child” (verse 5) is clearly a reference to Jesus, the Messiah, who will “rule all the nations with an iron scepter” (a direct reference to Psalm 2:9). His being “snatched up to God” signifies His ascension after His resurrection.
4.The “war in heaven” (verse 7) between Michael and the dragon reflects the cosmic struggle between good and evil. Michael, as the leader of the heavenly armies, is depicted as God’s protector and defender, casting Satan out of heaven.
5.Satan is called “the accuser” (verse 10), reflecting his role in bringing accusations against believers, but his defeat is celebrated in heaven, signaling the ultimate victory of God’s kingdom.
6.The phrase “they triumphed by the blood of the Lamb” (verse 11) highlights that the victory over Satan is achieved through the sacrifice of Jesus and the faithful testimony of His followers, even to the point of martyrdom.
7.The “wings of a great eagle” (verse 14) symbolize God’s divine protection and care for His people, similar to the imagery in Exodus 19:4, where God describes carrying Israel on eagles’ wings during their journey through the wilderness.
