The Woman and the Dragon
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 cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”12:5 Psalm 2:9 And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
13When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
妇人与巨龙
1天上出现了一个奇异的景象：有一个妇人，身披太阳，脚踏月亮，头戴有十二颗星的冠冕。 2她怀孕将产，正因产痛而呼叫。
3这时天上出现了另一个奇异的景象：有一条红色巨龙出现，它有七头十角，每个头上都戴着冠冕。 4它的尾巴将天上三分之一的星扫落到地上。巨龙站在那正要生产的妇人面前，等着要吃掉她生下来的婴孩。 5妇人生下一个男婴，就是将来要用铁杖治理万国的。12:5 诗篇2:9。那男婴被提到了上帝的宝座那里， 6妇人则逃到旷野，在上帝为她预备的地方被照顾一千二百六十天。
7天上起了战争，米迦勒和他的天使出战巨龙，巨龙和它的天使抵抗。 8巨龙落败，天上再没有它们的立足之地， 9它和它的天使都一同从天上被摔到地上。巨龙就是那古蛇，又名魔鬼或撒旦，是迷惑天下人的。
10我听见天上有响亮的声音说：“我们上帝的救赎、权能、国度和祂所立的基督的权柄现在来临了。因为那昼夜不停地在我们上帝面前控告我们弟兄的，已经被摔到地上了。 11弟兄们是靠着羔羊的血和自己所见证的道战胜了它，他们没有贪生怕死。 12因此，诸天和其中的居民都要欢欣雀跃！但大地和海洋有祸了，因为魔鬼知道它的时日不多了，就怒气冲冲地下到你们那里。”
13巨龙见自己被摔到地上，就迫害那先前产下男婴的妇人。 14但那妇人得到一对巨鹰的翅膀，使她能飞到旷野，去上帝为她预备的地方避难，在那里被照顾三年半。 15古蛇在妇人身后张口吐出大量的水，如同江河一般，要冲走她， 16大地却帮助她，张口吞了巨龙口中吐出来的大水。 17巨龙大怒，转而攻击她的其他儿女，就是那些坚守上帝的命令、为耶稣做见证的人。 18那时巨龙站在海边的沙地上。
