And out of the sea, in my vision, a beast came up to land, with ten horns and seven heads, and on each of its ten horns a royal diadem; and the names it bore on its heads were names of blasphemy.

This beast which I saw was like a leopard, but it had bear’s feet and a lion’s mouth. To it the dragon gave the strength that was his, and great dominion.

One of its heads, it seemed, had been mortally wounded, but this deadly wound had been healed. And now the whole world went after the beast in admiration,

falling down and praising the dragon for giving the beast all this dominion; praising the beast too. Who is a match for the beast? they asked; Who is fit to make war upon him?

And he was given power of speech, to boast and to blaspheme with, and freedom to work his will for a space of forty-two months.

So he began to utter blasphemy against God, blasphemy against his name, against his dwelling-place and all those who dwell in heaven.

He was allowed, too, to levy war on the saints, and to triumph over them. The dominion given to him extended over all tribes and peoples and languages and races;

all the dwellers on earth fell down in adoration of him, except those whose names the Lamb has written down in his book of life, the Lamb slain in sacrifice ever since the world was made.

Listen to this, you that have ears to hear with.

The captor will go into captivity; he who slays with the sword must himself be slain with the sword. Such good ground have the saints for their endurance, and for their faithfulness.✻

Then, from the land itself, I saw another beast come up; it had two horns like a lamb’s horns, but it roared like a dragon.

And it stood in the presence of the former beast, to carry out all that it was empowered to do, bidding the world and all its inhabitants worship the former beast, that beast whose deadly wound was healed.

Such wonders could it accomplish, that it brought down fire, before men’s eyes, from heaven to earth;

and by these wonders, which it was enabled to do in its master’s presence, it deluded the inhabitants of the world, bidding those who dwell in it set up an image to that beast which was smitten with the sword, and lived.✻

Further, it was able to put life into that beast’s image, so that even the beast’s image uttered speech; and if anyone refused to worship the image of the beast, it had him put to death.

All alike, little and great, rich and poor, free men and slaves, must receive a mark from him on their right hands, or on their foreheads,

and none might buy or sell, unless he carried this mark, which was the beast’s name, or the number that stands for his name.

Here is room for discernment; let the reader, if he has the skill, cast up the sum of the figures in the beast’s name, after our human fashion, and the number will be six hundred and sixty-six.✻