Revelation 12  Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12 A great sign^[a] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head.^{(A) 2} She was pregnant and cried out in labor and agony as she was about to give birth. ³ Then another sign^[b] appeared in heaven: There was a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns,^(B) and on his heads were seven diadems.^{[c] 4} His tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.^(C) And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth he might devour her child. ⁵ But she gave birth to a Son—a male who is going to shepherd^[d] all nations with an iron scepter^(D)—and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God,^(E) to be fed there^[e] for 1,260 days.^(F)

The Dragon Thrown Out of Heaven

⁷ Then war broke out in heaven: Michael^(G) and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, ⁸ but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. ⁹ So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent,^(H) who is called the Devil^[f] and Satan,^[g](I) the one who deceives the whole world.^(J) He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

The Woman Persecuted

¹³ When the dragon saw that he had been thrown to earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. ¹⁴ The woman was given two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent’s presence to her place in the wilderness, where she was fed for a time, times, and half a time.^{[h](M) 15} From his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river flowing after the woman, to sweep her away in a torrent. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. ¹⁷ So the dragon was furious with the woman and left to wage war^(N) against the rest of her offspring^[i]—those who keep God’s commands and have the testimony about Jesus.^{(O) 18} He^[j] stood on the sand of the sea.^[k]