Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and
said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great
prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the
earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose
sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” And he
carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman
sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and
it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple
and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding
in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of
her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of
mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's
abominations.” And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the
saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
When I saw her, I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me,
“Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and
of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The
beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the
bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth
whose names have not been written in the book of life from the
foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it
was and is not and is to come. This calls for a mind with wisdom:
the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated;
they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the
other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a
little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth
but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. And the
ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received
royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one
hour, together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand
over their power and authority to the beast. They will make war on
the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords
and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and
faithful.”
And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the
prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and
languages. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will
hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and
devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into
their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and
handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God
are fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city that
has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
