but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
Parallel translations
- WEB They didn’t prevail, neither was a place found for him any more in heaven.
- KJV And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
- BSB But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels.
- NASB and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.
- NLT And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The dragon and his angels lose, and there is no longer any place for them in heaven. Satan is decisively defeated and expelled.
Overview
The enemy "did not prevail"—a flat statement of total defeat. No place remains for the accuser in God's presence, signaling that his power to stand before God against the saints is broken. This victory is grounded in Christ's redeeming work. It assures the church that the adversary, however fierce on earth, has already lost the decisive battle in heaven.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 37:10For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.
- Rev 12:11They 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.
- Jude 1:6Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
- Jer 1:19They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you”, says Yahweh, “to rescue you.”
- Ps 13:4Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; Lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.
- Matt 16:18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
- Ps 129:2many times they have afflicted me from my youth up, yet they have not prevailed against me.
- Rom 8:31–39What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Job 8:18If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’
- Job 7:10He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
- Job 27:21–23The east wind carries him away, and he departs. It sweeps him out of his place.
- Jer 5:22Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? and though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail; though they roar, yet they can’t pass over it.’
- Acts 1:25to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.”
- Job 20:9The eye which saw him shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more see him.
- Ps 118:10–13All the nations surrounded me, but in Yahweh’s name, I cut them off.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 12:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.