so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name.
Parallel translations
- WEB and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name.
- KJV And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
- NKJV and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
- NASB and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
- NLT And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.
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
Without the beast's mark, name, or number, no one can buy or sell. Economic pressure is used to compel idolatrous loyalty.
Overview
The beast ties ordinary economic life to bearing its mark, so that fidelity to God may cost livelihood itself. This dramatizes how anti-God systems exert pressure not only through violence but through commerce and exclusion. Believers are called to trust God's provision rather than secure life by compromising their allegiance to the Lamb.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Rev 13:16And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
- Rev 14:11And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. Day and night there is no rest for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
- Rev 15:2And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, beside which stood those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name. They were holding harps from God,
- Rev 13:18Here is a call for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and that number is 666.
- Rev 14:9And a third angel followed them, calling out in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,
- Rev 22:4They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
- Rev 3:12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
- Rev 17:5And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 13:17 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.