Revelation 13

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

1I stood on the sand beside the sea. Then I saw a beast come up out of the water. It had seven heads and ten horns. On its horns were ten crowns. On its heads were names that insulted God.

2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

2The beast looked like a leopard. Its feet were like a bear's feet. Its mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority.

NoteThe KJV word "seat" here means a king's throne, not a chair to sit on.

3And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

3One of the beast's heads looked hurt so badly that it should have died. But that deadly wound was healed. The whole world was amazed and followed the beast.

4And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

4People worshipped the dragon, because he had given his power to the beast. They also worshipped the beast. They said, "Who is like the beast? Who can fight against him?"

5And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

5The beast was given a mouth to speak proud words and words that insulted God. It was allowed to act for forty-two months.

6And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

6The beast opened its mouth and spoke against God. It said bad things about God's name, about God's home, and about those who live in heaven.

7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

7The beast was allowed to make war on God's people and to beat them. It was given power over every family, language, and nation.

8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

8Everyone on earth will worship the beast. That means everyone whose name is not written in the book of life. That book belongs to the Lamb, who was killed. The names were written there before the world was made.

Note"The Lamb" is the name this book uses for Jesus.

9If any man have an ear, let him hear.

9If anyone has ears, let him listen.

10He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

10Whoever takes other people away as prisoners will himself be taken away. Whoever kills with a sword will himself be killed with a sword. So God's people must wait patiently and keep trusting.

11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

11Then I saw another beast coming up out of the ground. It had two horns like a lamb. But it spoke like a dragon.

12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

12This second beast used all the power of the first beast. It made the earth and everyone on it worship the first beast, the one whose deadly wound was healed.

13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

13It did great wonders. It even made fire come down from heaven to the earth while people watched.

14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

14It was allowed to do these signs for the first beast. In this way it fooled the people on earth. It told them to make a statue of the beast that had been wounded by a sword and still lived.

15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

15The second beast was allowed to give breath to the statue, so the statue could talk. It also made sure that anyone who would not worship the statue was killed.

16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

16It made everyone take a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. This was for big people and small, rich and poor, free people and slaves.

17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

17No one could buy or sell without that mark. The mark was the beast's name, or the number that stands for its name.

18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

18Here you need wisdom. Anyone who can understand should work out the beast's number. It is the number of a man. His number is 666.

Note"Six hundred threescore and six" is the old way of writing 666. A score is twenty, so threescore is sixty.