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Revelation 12

1A 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. 2She was pregnant, and she cries out in labor pains and the agony of giving birth. 3Another sign appeared in heaven: look! A great fiery red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4His tail sweeps a third of the stars of heaven 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 could devour her child. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that they may feed her there for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

7War broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought, 8but he did not prevail, and no place was found for them in heaven any longer. 9The great dragon was thrown down—the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who misleads the whole inhabited world. He was thrown to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

10I 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 Messiah, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11They overcame him because of the Lamb's blood and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives even to the point of death. 12Because of this, rejoice, heavens and you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, knowing that he has little time.”

13When the dragon saw that he had been thrown to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is fed for a time and times and half a time, away from the serpent's face. 15The serpent poured water like a river from his mouth after the woman, to have her swept away by the river. 16The earth helped the woman: the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon poured from his mouth. 17The dragon grew angry with the woman and went away to wage war against the rest of her seed, those who keep God's commandments and hold the testimony of Jesus. 18He stood on the sand of the sea.

Translation notes 4

12:1–6 — Woman and son. The royal child's destiny recalls Psalm 2. The woman can be understood as a corporate figure for God's people, with the Messiah's mother included in the imagery; the translation does not replace her with one proposed identity. “A son, a male child” retains the source's emphatic wording. Verse 6's unnamed “they” are those who feed her.

12:10–11 — Accusation and victory. “Brothers” is family language that can include women. The witnesses overcome through the Lamb's death and their testimony while being willing to die themselves. “Even to the point of death” preserves the stated limit without turning victory into military survival.

12:14–17 — Time and seed. The time expression echoes Daniel and stands alongside the 1,260 days of verse 6. “Seed” means descendants or offspring; the text identifies this group by obedience and testimony. “Testimony of Jesus” can mean testimony about Jesus or testimony given by him.

12:18 — He stood. The base says “he stood,” most naturally the dragon. Some witnesses read “I stood,” making John the subject. This sentence is numbered 12:18 in the base; some Bibles include it at the beginning of 13:1. No extra event or missing verse is implied.