Wahyu 13:14-15

13:14 and, by the signs he was permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, he deceived those who live on the earth. He told ¹  those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had been wounded by the sword, but still lived. 13:15 The second beast ²  was empowered ³  to give life ⁴  to the image of the first beast ⁵  so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

[13:14]  ¹ tn Grk “earth, telling.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek.

[13:14]  sn He told followed by an infinitive (“to make an image…”) is sufficiently ambiguous in Greek that it could be taken as “he ordered” (so NIV) or “he persuaded” (so REB).

[13:15]  ² tn Grk “it”; the referent (the second beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:15]  ³ tn Grk “it was given [permitted] to it [the second beast].”

[13:15]  ⁴ tn Grk “breath,” but in context the point is that the image of the first beast is made to come to life and speak.

[13:15]  ⁵ tn Grk “of the beast”; the word “first” has been supplied to specify the referent.