Revelation 17

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality those who dwell on the earth became drunk.” He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, with seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand she held a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.” I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. The angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast you saw was and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss, and goes to destruction. Those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel when they see the beast, because it was and is not and will be present. Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings: five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast that was and is not is itself an eighth king, and is one of the seven, and goes to destruction. The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. They have one purpose and give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” And he says to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. The ten horns you saw and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire. For God put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose, to have one purpose, and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Rights and attribution