Revelation 12

1 A great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

2 She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth.

3 Another sign was seen in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.

4 His tail drew one third of the stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.

5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God and to his throne.

6 The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days.

7 There was war in the sky. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war.

8 They didn’t prevail. No place was found for them any more in heaven.

9 The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

10 I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.

11 They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death.

12 Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”

13 When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.

14 Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

15 The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.

16 The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his mouth.

17 The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep God’s commandments and hold Jesus’ testimony.

Around Revelation 12

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

Revelation 12 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

“A great sign was seen in heaven”: a woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, twelve stars on her head, crying out as she is about to give birth. Before her stands a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, waiting to devour her child. But the child is born and caught up to God, and the woman flees to a place prepared for her in the wilderness.

War breaks out in the sky. Michael and his angels fight the dragon, who is thrown down to earth, the old serpent called the devil and Satan. A loud voice announces that the accuser has been defeated: “They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood”. But on earth the dragon rages, and the woman is given the wings of a great eagle. The earth swallows the river the dragon sends after her, and the dragon goes off to make war on the rest of her offspring.

Background

This chapter retells a great conflict in symbols, and Christians identify the woman in different ways: as Israel, as the church, as Mary, or as the whole people of God. The dragon is named plainly in the text as the old serpent, the devil and Satan, so readers often hear an echo of the serpent in Genesis 3. The victory it describes is won by the Lamb’s blood and by the faithful witness of believers, not by force of arms.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 20 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes