Dual PanelThe Woman and the Giant Snake
1And 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 twelve stars on her head.
2The woman was pregnant. She cried out with pain because she was about to give birth.
3Then another wonder appeared in heaven: There was a giant red snake there. The giant snake had seven heads with a crown on each head. The snake also had ten horns.
4The snake’s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. The giant snake stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth to the baby. The snake wanted to eat the woman’s baby when it was born.
5The woman gave birth to a son, a male child. He will rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was taken up to God and to his throne.
6The woman ran away into the desert to a place that God prepared for her. In the desert she will be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7Then there was a war in heaven. Michael
8But the snake was not strong enough. The giant snake and his angels lost their place in heaven.
9The snake was thrown down out of heaven. (The giant snake is that old snake called the devil or Satan. He leads the whole world into the wrong way.) The snake with his angels were thrown to the earth.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “The victory and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority (power) of his Christ
11Our brothers defeated him by the blood (death) of the Lamb and by the message {of God} they told people. They did not love their lives too much. They were not afraid of death.
12So be happy you heavens and all who live there! But it will be bad for the earth and sea, because the devil has gone down to you! The devil is filled with anger. He knows he doesn’t have much time.”
13The giant snake saw that he had been thrown down to the earth. So he chased the woman who had given birth to the boy child.
14But the woman was given the two wings of a great eagle. Then she could fly to the place that was prepared for her in the desert. In that place she would be taken care of for three and one-half years. There she would be away from the snake.
15Then the snake poured water out of its mouth like a river. The snake poured the water toward the woman so that the flood would carry her away.
16But the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that came from the mouth of the giant snake.
17Then the snake was very angry at the woman. The snake went away to make war against all her other children. Her children are those people who obey God’s commands and have the truth that Jesus taught.