Revelation 15–18

The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

15Then ^rI saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, ^sseven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

²And I saw ^twhat appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those ^uwho had conquered the beast and its image and ^vthe number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass ^wwith harps of God in their hands. ³And they sing ^xthe song of Moses, ^ythe servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

^z“Great and amazing are your deeds,

O Lord God the Almighty!

^aJust and true are your ways,

O King of the nations!²

^4bWho will not fear, O Lord,

and glorify your name?

For you alone are ^choly.

^dAll nations will come

and worship you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

⁵After this I looked, and ^ethe sanctuary of ^fthe tent³ of witness in heaven was opened, ⁶and out of the sanctuary came ^gthe seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright ⁱlinen, ^jwith golden sashes around their chests. ⁷And one of ^kthe four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven ^lgolden bowls full of the wrath of God ^mwho lives forever and ever, ⁸and ⁿthe sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and ^ono one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

16Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling ^pthe seven angels, “Go and ^qpour out on the earth ^rthe seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

²So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful ^ssores came upon the people who bore ^tthe mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

³The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and ^uit became like the blood of a corpse, and ^vevery living thing died that was in the sea.

⁴The third angel poured out his bowl into ^wthe rivers and the springs of water, and ^xthey became blood. ⁵And I heard the angel in charge of the waters¹ say,

^y“Just are you, ^zO Holy One, ^awho is and who was,

for you brought these judgments.

⁶For ^bthey have shed the blood of ^csaints and prophets,

and ^dyou have given them blood to drink.

It is what they deserve!”

⁷And I heard ^ethe altar saying,

“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,

^ftrue and just are your judgments!”

⁸The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people ^gwith fire. ⁹They were scorched by the fierce heat, and ^hthey cursed² the name of God who had power over these plagues. ⁱThey did not repent ^jand give him glory.

¹⁰The fifth angel poured out his bowl on ^kthe throne of the beast, and ^lits kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish ¹¹and cursed ^mthe God of heaven for their pain and ⁿsores. ^oThey did not repent of their deeds.

¹²The sixth angel poured out his bowl on ^pthe great river Euphrates, and ^qits water was dried up, ^rto prepare the way for the kings ^sfrom the east. ¹³And I saw, coming out of the mouth of ^tthe dragon and out of the mouth of ^uthe beast and out of the mouth of ^vthe false prophet, three ^wunclean spirits like ^xfrogs. ¹⁴For they are ^ydemonic spirits, ^zperforming signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, ^ato assemble them for battle on ^bthe great day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵(“Behold, ^cI am coming like a thief! ^dBlessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, ^ethat he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) ¹⁶And ^fthey assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called ^gArmageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

¹⁷The seventh angel poured out his bowl into ^hthe air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, ⁱ“It is done!” ¹⁸And there were ^jflashes of lightning, rumblings,³ peals of thunder, and ^ka great earthquake ^lsuch as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. ^19mThe great city ⁿwas split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God ^oremembered ^pBabylon the great, ^qto make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. ²⁰And ^revery island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. ²¹And ^sgreat hailstones, about one hundred pounds⁴ each, fell from heaven on people; and ^tthey cursed God for ^uthe plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17Then ^vone of the seven angels who had ^wthe seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^xthe great prostitute ^ywho is seated on many waters, ^2zwith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^awith the wine of whose sexual immorality ^bthe dwellers on earth have become drunk.” ³And ^che carried me away in the Spirit ^dinto a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^ea scarlet beast that was full of ^fblasphemous names, and ^git had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴The woman ^hwas arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ⁱwith gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^ja golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵And on her forehead was written a name of ^kmystery: ^l“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” ⁶And I saw the woman, drunk ^mwith the blood of the saints, the blood of ⁿthe martyrs of Jesus.¹

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^othe mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸The beast that you saw ^pwas, and is not, and ^qis about to rise from ^rthe bottomless pit² and ^sgo to destruction. And ^tthe dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^uthe book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^pit was and is not and is to come. ^9vThis calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰they 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. ¹¹As for the beast ^wthat was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. ¹²And ^xthe ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings ^yfor one hour, together with the beast. ¹³These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴They ^zwill make war on the Lamb, and ^athe Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^bLord of lords and ^bKing of kings, and those with him are ^ccalled and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵And the angel³ said to me, ^d“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶And ^ethe ten horns that you saw, they and the beast ^fwill hate the prostitute. They will make her ^gdesolate and ^hnaked, and ⁱdevour her flesh and ^jburn her up with fire, ¹⁷for ^kGod has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and ^lhanding over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸And the woman that you saw is ^mthe great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

The Fall of Babylon

18After this I saw ⁿanother angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and ^othe earth was made bright with his glory. ²And he called out with a mighty voice,

^p“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

She has become ^qa dwelling place for demons,

a haunt ^rfor every unclean spirit,

a haunt ^sfor every unclean bird,

a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

³For all nations have drunk¹

^tthe wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,

and ^uthe kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,

and ^vthe merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

^w“Come out of her, my people,

lest you take part in her sins,

lest you share in her plagues;

⁵for ^xher sins are heaped high as heaven,

and ^yGod has remembered her iniquities.

^6zPay her back as she herself has paid back others,

and repay her ^adouble for her deeds;

mix a double portion for her ^bin the cup she mixed.

^7cAs she glorified herself and lived in luxury,

so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,

since in her heart she says,

^d‘I sit as a queen,

I am no widow,

and mourning I shall never see.’

⁸For this reason her plagues will come ^ein a single day,

death and mourning and famine,

and ^fshe will be burned up with fire;

for ^gmighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

⁹And ^hthe kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, ⁱwill weep and wail over her ^jwhen they see the smoke of her burning. ^10kThey will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

“Alas! Alas! ^lYou great city,

you mighty city, Babylon!

For ^min a single hour your judgment has come.”

¹¹And ⁿthe merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, ¹²cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, ¹³cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.²

¹⁴“The fruit for which your soul longed

has gone from you,

and all your delicacies and your splendors

are lost to you,

never to be found again!”

^15oThe merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, ^pwill stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

¹⁶“Alas, alas, for the great city

^qthat was clothed in fine linen,

in purple and scarlet,

adorned with gold,

with jewels, and with pearls!

¹⁷For ^rin a single hour all this wealth ^shas been laid waste.”

And ^tall shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off ¹⁸and ^ucried out ^vas they saw the smoke of her burning,

^w“What city was like the great city?”

¹⁹And they threw ^xdust on their heads as they…