13:3a

appeared to be mortally wounded: The Greek phrase can be translated literally as “as having been killed to death.” It indicates that John saw that one head of the beast had a very bad wound. It was the kind of wound that kills. The Greek words are similar to the description of the Lamb in 5:6.

John saw the scar from the wound but also saw that the head was alive at this time. So he used “as.” 13:12 makes it clear that the wound was “of death,” that is, the head had died. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

as if it had been slain (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
as it were wounded to death (King James Version)
-or-
had a fatal/deadly wound

13:14 indicates that the head was killed with a sword.

mortally wound: This phrase refers to a wound that would cause the death of someone. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

wounded to death (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
deadly injury

This wound is explained in 13:14d as a sword wound. Some languages must say what kind of wound it is. If that is true in your language, refer to a sword wound or deep cut.

13:3b

But the mortal wound was healed: These verses do not say whether the wound healed on its own or whether someone healed it. Your translation should allow for either meaning. If possible, do not say that someone healed it. For example:

the fatal wound was healed
-or-
the wound had healed (Good News Translation)

13:3c

the whole world: The word world refers to people here. For example:

All the people of the world (God’s Word)

Believers did not follow the beast (13:8).

marveled: This word implies that people marveled because the beast still lived after receiving a fatal wound. In some languages people will think that the people marveled for another reason. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain the meaning in your translation. For example:

astonished ⌊because the beast/head was healed⌋

followed: Here the word followed refers to obeying or learning from the beast. The word does not refer to walking behind it. Other ways to translate this word are:

gave allegiance to (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
submitted to
-or-
became disciples of

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