The Woman and the Dragon
12 Something very special was seen in heaven. A woman was there dressed with the sun. The moon was under her feet. A crown with twelve stars in it was on her head. 2 She was about to become a mother. She cried out with pain waiting for the child to be born. 3 Something else special was seen in heaven. A large dragon was there. It was red and had seven heads and ten horns. There was a crown on each head. 4 With his tail he pulled one-third part of the stars out of heaven. He threw them down to the earth. This dragon stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth to her child. He was waiting to eat her child as soon as it was born. 5 Then the woman gave birth to a son. He is to be the leader of the world using a piece of iron. But this child was taken away to God and His throne. 6 The woman ran away into the desert. God had made the place ready for her. He will care for her there 1,260 days.
War in Heaven
7 Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against this dragon. This animal and his angels fought back. 8 But the dragon was not strong enough to win. There was no more room in heaven for them. 9 The dragon was thrown down to earth from heaven. This animal is the old snake. He is also called the Devil or Satan. He is the one who has fooled the whole world. He was thrown down to earth and his angels were thrown down with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now God has saved from the punishment of sin! God’s power as King has come! God’s holy nation has come! God’s Christ is here with power! The one who spoke against our Christian brothers has been thrown down to earth. He stood before God speaking against them day and night. 11 They had power over him and won because of the blood of the Lamb and by telling what He had done for them. They did not love their lives but were willing to die. 12 For this reason, O heavens and you who are there, be full of joy. It is bad for you, O earth and sea. For the devil has come down to you. He is very angry because he knows he has only a short time.”
War on Earth
13 When the dragon which is the devil saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he began to hunt for the woman who had given birth to the boy baby. 14 The woman was given two wings like the wings of a very large bird so she could fly to her place in the desert. She was to be cared for there and kept safe from the snake, which is the devil, for three-and one-half years. 15 Then the snake spit water from his mouth so the woman might be carried away with a flood. 16 The earth helped the woman by opening its mouth. It drank in the flood of water that this dragon spit from his mouth. 17 This dragon was very angry with the woman. He went off to fight with the rest of her children. They are the ones who obey the Laws of God and are faithful to the teachings of Jesus.