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.