And the ¹dragon (Satan) stood on the sandy shore of the sea. Dan 7:7

Then I saw a vicious ^abeast coming up out of the sea with ^bten horns and ^cseven heads, and on his horns were ^dten royal ²crowns (diadems) , and on his heads were ^eblasphemous names. 2 And the beast that I saw ^aresembled a ¹leopard, but his feet were like those of ^ba bear, and his mouth was like that of ^ca lion. And the ^ddragon gave him his power and his ^ethrone and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads which seemed to have a fatal wound, but his ^afatal wound was healed; and the entire earth followed after the beast in ^bamazement. 4 They fell down and worshiped the ^adragon because he ^bgave his authority to the beast; they also worshiped the beast, saying, “^cWho is like (as great as) the beast, and who is able to wage war against him?” 5 And the beast was given a mouth (the power of speech) , ^auttering great things and arrogant and blasphemous words, and he was given freedom and authority to act and to do as he pleased for ^1bforty-two months (three and a half years) . Dan 7:8 6 And he opened his mouth to speak blasphemies (abusive speech, slander) against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and ^athose who live in heaven.

7 He was also ¹permitted to ^awage war against the saints (God’s people) and to overcome them, and authority and power over ^bevery tribe and people and language and nation. Dan 7:21, 25 8 All the ^ainhabitants of the earth will fall down and worship him, everyone ^bwhose name has not been written ^csince the foundation of the world in the ^dBook of Life of ^ethe Lamb who has been slain as a willing sacrifice. 9 ^aIf anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 ^aIf anyone is destined for captivity, he will go into captivity; ^bif anyone kills with a sword, he must be killed with a sword. Here is the call for ^cthe patient endurance and the faithfulness of the saints which is seen in the response of God’s people to difficult times. Jer 15:2

11 Then ^aI saw ¹another beast rising up out of the earth; he had ^btwo horns like a lamb and he spoke like a ^cdragon. Matt 7:15, 16 12 He ^aexercises all the authority of the first beast ^bin his presence when the two are together. And he makes ^cthe earth and those who inhabit it ^dworship the first beast, whose ^edeadly wound was healed. 13 He ^aperforms great signs (awe-inspiring acts) , even making ^bfire fall from the sky to the earth, right before peoples’ eyes. 14 And he ^adeceives ^bthose unconverted ones who inhabit the earth into believing him because of ^cthe signs which he is given by Satan to perform ^din the presence of the first beast, telling those who inhabit the earth to make an image to the beast who was ^ewounded fatally by the sword and has come back to life. Deut 13:1-5; Mark 13:22; 2+@Thess 2:9, 10 15 And he is given power to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast will even appear to speak, and cause ^athose who do not ^bbow down and worship the image of the beast to be put to death. Dan 3:5 16 Also he compels all, ^athe small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be ^bgiven a mark on their right hand or on their forehead signifying allegiance to the beast, 17 and that no one will be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the ^amark, either ^bthe name of the beast or ^cthe number of his name. 18 ^aHere is wisdom. Let the person who has enough insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the imperfect ^bnumber of a man; ¹and his number is ²six hundred and sixty-six.

And the dragon stood on the sand of the ¹seashore.

Then I saw a ^abeast coming up out of the sea, having ^bten horns and ^cseven heads, and on his horns were ^dten crowns, and on his heads were ^eblasphemous names. 2 And the beast that I saw was ^alike a leopard, and his feet were like those of ^ba bear, and his mouth like the mouth of ^ca lion. And the ^ddragon gave him his power and his ^ethrone, and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been ¹fatally wounded, and his ^afatal wound was healed. And the whole earth ^bwas amazed and followed after the beast; 4 they worshiped the ^adragon because he ^bgave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “^cWho is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5 A mouth was given to him ^aspeaking ¹arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for ^bforty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, ^athose who dwell in heaven.

7 It was also given to him to ^amake war with the ¹saints and to overcome them, and authority was given to him over ^bevery tribe, people, language, and nation. 8 All who ^alive on the earth will worship him, everyone ^bwhose name has not been ¹written ^csince the foundation of the world in the ^dbook of life of ^ethe Lamb who has been slaughtered. 9 ^aIf anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 ^aIf anyone ¹is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; ^bif anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is ^cthe ²perseverance and the faith of the ³saints.

11 Then ^aI saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had ^btwo horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a ^cdragon. 12 He ^aexercises all the authority of the first beast ^1bin his presence. And he makes ^cthe earth and those who live on it ^dworship the first beast, whose ^efatal wound was healed. 13 He ^aperforms great signs, so that he even makes ^bfire come down out of the sky to the earth in the presence of people. 14 And he ^adeceives ^bthose who live on the earth because of ^cthe signs which it was given him to perform ^1din the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the ^ewound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even ¹speak and cause ^aall who do not ^bworship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, ^athe small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, ¹to be given a ^bmark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the ^amark, either ^bthe name of the beast or ^cthe number of his name. 18 ^aHere is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that ^bof a ¹man; and his number is ²six hundred and sixty-six.

And the dragon stood on the sand of the ¹seashore.

Then I saw a ^abeast coming up out of the sea, having ^bten horns and ^cseven heads, and on his horns were ^dten diadems, and on his heads were ^eblasphemous names. 2 And the beast which I saw was ^alike a leopard, and his feet were like those of ^ba bear, and his mouth like the mouth of ^ca lion. And the ^ddragon gave him his power and his ^ethrone and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been ¹slain, and his ^afatal wound was healed. And the whole earth ^bwas amazed and followed after the beast; 4 they worshiped the ^adragon because he ^bgave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “^cWho is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5 There was given to him a mouth ^aspeaking ¹arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for ^bforty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, ^athose who ¹dwell in heaven.

7 It was also given to him to ^amake war with the ¹saints and to overcome them, and authority over ^bevery tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 All who ^adwell on the earth will worship him, everyone ^bwhose name has not been ¹written ^cfrom the foundation of the world in the ^dbook of life of ^ethe Lamb who has been slain. 9 ^aIf anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 ^aIf anyone ¹is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; ^bif anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is ^cthe ²perseverance and the faith of the ³saints.

11 Then ^aI saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had ^btwo horns like a lamb and he spoke as a ^cdragon. 12 He ^aexercises all the authority of the first beast ^1bin his presence. And he makes ^cthe earth and those who dwell in it to ^dworship the first beast, whose ^efatal wound was healed. 13 He ^aperforms great signs, so that he even makes ^bfire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he ^adeceives ^bthose who dwell on the earth because of ^cthe signs which it was given him to perform ^1din the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the ^ewound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even ¹speak and cause ^aas many as do not ^bworship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, ^athe small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, ¹to be given a ^bmark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the ^amark, either ^bthe name of the beast or ^cthe number of his name. 18 ^aHere is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that ^bof a man; and his number is ¹six hundred and sixty-six.