Revelation 17

¹Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits upon many waters, ²with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual harlotry, and those who inhabit the earth became drunk on the wine of her prostitution.”

³And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand she held a golden cup full of detestable things and the uncleanness of her prostitution. ⁵And on her forehead was a name written—a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Earth’s Detestable Things.” ⁶I saw the woman drunk on the blood of the holy ones and on the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled with great wonder.

⁷But 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, the one having the seven heads and the ten horns. ⁸The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to ascend from the Abyss and go to destruction. Those who inhabit the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they see the beast, because it was, and is not, and will appear.

⁹This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains where the woman sits upon them. They are also seven kings; ¹⁰five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain for only a little while. ¹¹As for the beast that was and is not, he himself is an eighth king, yet he belongs to the seven, and he is going to destruction. ¹²The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings for a single hour along with the beast. ¹³These have a single purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

¹⁵And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, crowds, nations, and languages. ¹⁶And the ten horns that you saw and the beast—these will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked; they will eat her flesh and consume her with fire. ¹⁷For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose, by acting with a single purpose and giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸And the woman whom you saw is the great city that holds sovereignty over the kings of the earth.”