Revelation 13

1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea; and I saw a beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and upon its horns ten diadems, and upon its heads names of blasphemy.

And the dragon stood on the sea shore. Then I saw a beast rising out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten small crowns on his horns, and had blasphemous names on his heads.

2 And the beast which I saw was like to a leopardess, and its feet as of a bear, and its mouth as a lion's mouth; and the dragon gave to it his power, and his throne, and great authority;

The beast I saw looked like a leopard, but his feet looked like those of a bear, and his mouth looked like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority.

3 and one of his heads [was] as slain to death, and his wound of death had been healed: and the whole earth wondered after the beast.

One of his heads seemed to have suffered a death-blow, but this fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder at the beast,

4 And they did homage to the dragon, because he gave the authority to the beast; and they did homage to the beast, saying, Who [is] like to the beast? and who can make war with it?

and they worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, asking “Who is like the beast? Who could defeat him?”

5 And there was given to it a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given to it authority to pursue its career forty-two months.

He was given the ability to make great boasts and speak blasphemies, and he was also given the authority to do this for forty-two months.

6 And it opened its mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and those who have their tabernacle in the heaven.

As soon as he opened his mouth he spoke blasphemies against God, insulting his character, his sanctuary, and those who live in heaven.

7 And there was given to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them; and there was given to it authority over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation;

The beast was given power to attack believers and defeat them, and he was also given authority over every people, tribe, language, and nation.

8 and all that dwell on the earth shall do it homage, [every one] whose name had not been written from [the] founding of [the] world in the book of life of the slain Lamb.

Everybody living on earth will worship him, those whose names had not been written in the book of life—the book of life that belongs to the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world.

9 If any one has an ear, let him hear.

If you have ears, listen!

10 If any one [leads] into captivity, he goes into captivity. If any one shall kill with [the] sword, he must with [the] sword be killed. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints.

Anyone who has to go into captivity will go into captivity; anyone who has to die by the sword will die by the sword. This demonstrates the patient endurance and confidence in God of the believers.

11 And I saw another beast rising out of the earth; and it had two horns like to a lamb, and spake as a dragon;

Then I saw another beast, rising up from the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

12 and it exercises all the authority of the first beast before it, and causes the earth and those that dwell in it to do homage to the first beast, whose wound of death was healed.

He imposed the same authority as the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and those who live there worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.

13 And it works great signs, that it should cause even fire to come down from heaven to the earth before men.

He performed great miracles, even bringing fire down from heaven to earth while people watched.

14 And it deceives those that dwell upon the earth by reason of the signs which it was given to it to work before the beast, saying to those that dwell upon the earth to make an image to the beast, which has the wound of the sword, and lived.

He deceived those who live on the earth by the miracles he performed on behalf of the beast, ordering the people that they should make an image for the beast who had received the fatal sword wound but came back to life.

15 And it was given to it to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should also speak, and should cause that as many as should not do homage to the image of the beast should be killed.

He was permitted to breathe life into the image of the beast so that it could speak, ordering anyone who did not worship it put to death.

16 And it causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bondmen, that they should give them a mark upon their right hand or upon their forehead;

He made everyone, whether weak or powerful, rich or poor, free or slave, receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.

17 and that no one should be able to buy or sell save he that had the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of its name.

Nobody was permitted to buy or sell except those who had the mark, which was the name of the beast or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. He that has understanding let him count the number of the beast: for it is a man's number; and its number [is] six hundred [and] sixty-six.

Wisdom is needed here. Whoever has understanding should calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.