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12:1  And then a great ·wonder [sign; portent; C symbolic descriptions of heavenly/spiritual realities] appeared in heaven: A woman was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet [C indicating authority or victory; Gen. 37:9], and a crown [C a reward of victory] of twelve stars was on her head [C representing the twelve tribes of Israel; the woman is a symbol of the persecuted people of God].
12:2  She was ·pregnant [L in the womb] and cried out with [L labor] pain, because she was about to give birth [C to the Messiah].
12:3  Then another ·wonder [sign; portent; 12:1] appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon with seven heads [C reminiscent of the many-headed Leviathan representing evil and chaos, here representing Satan; Ps. 74:14; Is. 27:1; Dan. 7:1–9] and seven ·crowns [diadems; royal crowns] on each head. He [or It; C the Greek masculine pronoun can refer to a person or thing] also had ten horns [C symbols of strength and power; Dan. 7:7–8, 20, 24].
12:4  His tail swept a third of the stars out of ·the sky [or heaven] and ·threw [cast; hurled; Dan. 8:10] them down to the earth [C representing an early victory against God’s people; 12:1]. He stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth so he could ·eat [devour] her ·baby [child; C Jesus the Messiah] as soon as it was born.
12:5  Then the woman gave birth to ·a son [L a son, a male child,] who will ·rule [or shepherd] all the nations with an iron ·rod [sceptre; 19:15; Ps. 2:9]. And her child was ·taken up [or snatched away; C probably a symbolic reference to the resurrection, where Satan’s victory was thwarted] to God and to his throne.
12:6  The woman ·ran away [fled] into the ·desert [wilderness] to a place God prepared for her where she would ·be taken care of [nourished; fed] for one thousand two hundred sixty days [C equal to three and one-half years; see 11:3].
12:7  Then there was a war in heaven. Michael [C an archangel and protector of God’s people; Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9] and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
12:8  But the dragon was not strong enough, and he and his angels lost their place in heaven.
12:9  The ·giant [great] dragon was ·thrown down [cast; hurled] out of heaven. (He is that ·old snake [ancient serpent] called the devil or Satan [Gen. 3:1, 15], who ·tricks [deceives; leads astray] the whole world.) The dragon with his angels was ·thrown down [cast; hurled] to the earth.
12:10  Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the ·authority [power] of his ·Christ [Messiah; Anointed One] have now come [Dan. 7:14]. [L For] The accuser [C the name Satan means “Accuser” in Hebrew; Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6; Zech. 3:1–2] of our brothers and sisters, who accused them day and night before our God, has been ·thrown [cast; hurled] down.
12:11  And our brothers and sisters ·defeated [conquered] him by the blood of the ·Lamb’s death [L Lamb; C by means of Christ’s sacrificial death] and by the ·message they preached [L word of their witness/testimony]. [L And] They did not love their lives so much that they ·were afraid of [avoided] death.
12:12  So rejoice, you heavens and all who live there! But ·it will be terrible for [L woe to] the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you! He is filled with ·anger [wrath], because he knows he ·does not have much time [L has little time].”
12:13  When the dragon saw he had been ·thrown [cast; hurled] down to the earth, he ·hunted for [pursued; or persecuted] the woman who had given birth to the ·son [boy; L male].
12:14  But the woman was given the two wings of a great ·eagle [or vulture; Ex. 19:4; Deut. 32:10–11; Is. 40:31] so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the ·desert [wilderness]. There she would be ·taken care of [nourished; fed] for ·three and one-half years [L a time, times, and half a time; 11:2, 3; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; 12:7], away from the ·snake [serpent; C God will spiritually nourish his people though they are persecuted].
12:15  Then the ·snake [serpent] ·poured [spewed; L threw] water out of its mouth like a river ·toward [after] the woman so the flood would ·carry [sweep] her away [C overwhelming water signifies overwhelming trouble; Ps. 18:4; 69:2].
12:16  But the earth ·helped [rescued] the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that ·came [spewed; L was thrown] from the mouth of the dragon.
12:17  Then the dragon was ·very angry [furious; full of wrath] at the woman, and he went off to make war against ·all her other children [L the rest of her seed/offspring]—those who obey God’s commands and who ·have the message Jesus taught [or hold fast to their testimony about Jesus].
12:18  And the dragon stood on the ·seashore [L sand of the sea; C some commentators and translations take this verse as the introduction to the episode in chapter 13].