1. And then a great wonder appeared in heaven: There was a woman who was clothed with the sun. The moon was under her feet. She had a crown of 12 stars on her head.
2. The woman was pregnant. She cried out with pain because she was about to give birth.
3. Then another wonder appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon. He had seven heads with seven crowns on each head. He also had ten horns.
4. The dragon’s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth to a baby. He wanted to eat the woman’s baby as soon as it was born.
5. The woman gave birth to a son. He will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. But her child was taken up to God and to his throne.
6. The woman ran away into the desert to a place God prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7. Then there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back.
8. But the dragon was not strong enough. He and his angels lost their place in heaven.
9. He was thrown down out of heaven. (The giant dragon is that old snake called the devil or Satan. He leads the whole world the wrong way.) The dragon with his angels was thrown down to the earth.
10. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:“The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our Godand the authority of his Christ have now come.They have come because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown out.He accused our brothers day and night before our God.
11. And our brothers defeated himby the blood of the Lamb’s deathand by the truth they preached.They did not love their lives so muchthat they were afraid of death.
12. So be happy, you heavensand all who live there!But it will be terrible for the earth and the sea,because the devil has come down to you!He is filled with anger.He knows that he does not have much time.”
13. The dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth. So he hunted down the woman who had given birth to the son.