This is an utterly silly thread that should be deleted. But since I am hitting writers block on an article I am doing and bored, I'll inject a minor bit of seriousness into the understanding of chapter 13 of Revelation.
First is "the Mark". In Revelation 13:17 we are told "... no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark. That is the name of the beast or the number of its name." This is a pretty clear reference to currency, or rather coins, which is what you use to cary out commerce. The beast is Rome or the Roman Emperor (referred to as a King or head of the beast), so the coinage in view is Roman currency, which not surprisingly has the image of the emperor on it.
Revelation 13:15 says that those who don't worship the beast (Rome and the Emperor) will be killed. This alerts us that verse 13:16 may concern the dead, when it tells us "also it causes all, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or on the forehead." The forehead probably refers to the eye socket. We are here talking about burial practices in Rome and the near east cultures, where a coin is placed in the right hand or upon the eye (Romans might also place it in the mouth under the tongue) in order for the dead to pay the ferryman to cross the river Styx to bring one's soul to the land of the dead. The practice is referred to as Charon's Obol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon%27s_obol. Note verse 14:1 seems to refer to those who would or were buried with coins of God (perhaps Jewish revolt coins, or if Bar Kochba, over-stamped Roman coins)
The beast IMO is the Roman Army, and coming by Sea was the normal method of transport and attack in the Med. The 42 months corresponds to the length of the first Jewish War, until the fall of Jerusalem. This time length is referred to in various ways throughout the book of Revelation. That Nero is the number of the beast makes sense. Revelation 13:4 is easily understood in this context, also 13:7. Other parts take on the concept of a parallel heavenly contest, which was common thinking of the ancients.
This makes the prophecy nothing more than a dreamlike stylized rehashing of the Jewish War. The fatal wound of the head of the beast is probably a reference to Nero's suicide by dagger, and the healing of the fatal wound the ascendance of Vespasian -- even the death of Emperor does not stop the beast.
It's not as sexy an explanation of some untold future event. But it fits the style of Apocalypse, using imagery and dream like sequence. Revelation is only a mystery to us today because we try to project upon it. Many make their living doing that, and scary people. Once I understood what it really was, and it's heavy use of Astrology I found it non threatening and fascinating. BTW, it is generally considered a multi-layer, multi-author piece, that probably started as a Jewish document then was Christianized and then revised a couple times more before it finished in the form we see.