World English Bible · Under Rome
Revelation 12
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A great sign was seen in : a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a of twelve stars. She was with child. She cried out in pain, laboring to give birth. Another sign was seen in . Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten , and on his heads seven . His tail drew one third of the stars of , 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. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a . Her child was caught up to and to his . The woman fled into , where she has a place prepared by , that there they may nourish her one thousand two hundred sixty days. There was war in . and his made war on the dragon. The dragon and his made war. They didn't prevail. No place was found for them any more in . The great dragon was thrown down, the old , he who is called the devil and , the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his were thrown down with him. I heard a loud voice in , saying, "Now the , the , and of our , and the of his Christ has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our day and night. They overcame him because of , and because of the word of their . They didn't love their life, even to . Therefore rejoice, , and you who in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great , knowing that he has but a short time." When the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. Two of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, times, and half a time, from the of . spewed water out of his after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be by the stream. The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its and swallowed up the river which the dragon spewed out of his . The dragon grew angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her , who keep and hold ' .
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.