Revelation 17–20

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 wept and mourned, crying out,

“Alas, alas, for the great city

^ywhere all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For ^zin a single hour she has been laid waste.

^20aRejoice over her, O heaven,

and you saints and ^bapostles and prophets,

for ^cGod has given judgment for you against her!”

²¹Then ^da mighty angel ^etook up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“So will Babylon ^fthe great city be thrown down with violence,

and will be found no more;

²²and ^gthe sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,

will be heard in you no more,

and a craftsman of any craft

will be found in you no more,

and ^hthe sound of the mill

will be heard in you no more,

²³and the light of a lamp

will shine in you no more,

and ⁱthe voice of bridegroom and bride

will be heard in you no more,

for ^jyour merchants were the great ones of the earth,

and all nations were deceived ^kby your sorcery.

²⁴And ^lin her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,

and of ^mall who have been slain on earth.”

Rejoicing in Heaven

19After this I heard ⁿwhat seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

^oSalvation and glory and power belong to our God,

²for ^phis judgments are true and just;

for he has judged ^qthe great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her immorality,

and ^rhas avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

³Once more they cried out,

“Hallelujah!

^sThe smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

⁴And ^tthe twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” ⁵And from the throne came a voice saying,

^u“Praise our God,

all you his servants,

^vyou who fear him,

small and great.”

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

⁶Then I heard what seemed to be ^wthe voice of a great multitude, like ^xthe roar of many waters and ^ylike the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty ^zreigns.

⁷Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for ^athe marriage of the Lamb has come,

and ^bhis Bride has made herself ready;

^8cit was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is ^dthe righteous deeds of the saints.

⁹And the angel said² to me, “Write this: ^eBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ^f“These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰Then ^gI fell down at his feet to worship him, ^hbut he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to ⁱthe testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

¹¹Then I saw ^jheaven opened, and behold, ^ka white horse! The one sitting on it is called ^lFaithful and True, and ^min righteousness he judges and makes war. ¹²ⁿHis eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are ^omany diadems, and he has ^pa name written that no one knows but himself. ¹³He is clothed in ^qa robe dipped in⁴ blood, and the name by which he is called is ^rThe Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies of heaven, ^sarrayed in fine linen, white and pure, ^twere following him on white horses. ^15uFrom his mouth comes a sharp sword ^vwith which to strike down the nations, and ^whe will rule³ them with a rod of iron. ^xHe will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ¹⁶On his robe and on his thigh ^yhe has a name written, ^zKing of kings and Lord of lords.

¹⁷Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to ^aall the birds that fly directly overhead, ^b“Come, gather for ^cthe great supper of God, ^18dto eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,⁴ both small and great.” ¹⁹And I saw ^ethe beast and the kings of the earth with their armies ^fgathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. ²⁰And the beast was captured, and with it ^gthe false prophet ^hwho in its presence⁵ had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who ⁱworshiped its image. These two were ^jthrown alive into the lake of ^kfire that burns with sulfur. ²¹And…