Revelation 17–20

The Judgment of the Great Prostitute Babylon

17And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, ²with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit,^a and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. ⁵And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” ⁶And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

And I was greatly astonished when I saw her^b. ⁷And the angel said to me, “Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her. ⁸The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is going to come up from the abyss, and he is going to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they^* see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present. ⁹Here is the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits^c and they are seven kings. ¹⁰Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and whenever he comes it is necessary for him to remain a short time. ¹¹And the beast that was, and is not, is also himself an eighth, and is of the seven, and he is going to destruction. ¹²And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. ¹³These have one opinion, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and crowds and nations and languages. ¹⁶And the ten horns that you saw and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ¹⁷For God put into their hearts to carry out his purpose and to make a unanimous decision^d and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸And the woman that you saw is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.

Lament Over Babylon the Great

18After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, who had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. ²And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,

and it has become a dwelling place of demons

and a haunt of every unclean spirit

and a haunt of every unclean bird

and a haunt of every unclean and detested animal.

³For all the nations have drunk^a

from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,

and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her,

and the merchants of the earth have become rich

from the power of her sensuality.”

⁴And I heard another voice from heaven saying,

“Come out from her, my people,

so that you will not participate in her sins,

and so that you will not receive her plagues,

⁵because her sins have reached up to heaven,

and God has remembered her crimes.

⁶Pay back to her as she herself also paid out,

and pay back double^b according to her deeds;

in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her.

⁷As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury,

give to her so much torment and mourning,

because in her heart she said,

‘I sit as a queen, and am not a widow,

and I will never see mourning!’

⁸Because of this her plagues will come in one day—

death and mourning and famine—

and she will be burned up with fire,

because the Lord God who passes judgment on her is powerful!”

⁹And the kings of the earth will weep and mourn over her, those who committed sexual immorality and lived sensually with her, when they see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰standing far off^c because of the fear of her torment, saying,

“Woe, woe, the great city,

Babylon the powerful city,

because in one hour your judgment has come!”

¹¹And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more—¹²cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble ¹³and cinnamon and amomum^d and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and slaves^e and human lives.

¹⁴“And the fruit your soul desires^f has departed from you,

and all the luxury and the splendor has perished from you,

and they will never find them any more.”

¹⁵The merchants of these things, who became rich from them, will stand far off^g, weeping and mourning because of the fear of her torment, ¹⁶saying,

“Woe, woe, the great city,

dressed in fine linen and purple cloth and scarlet cloth,

and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,

¹⁷because in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!”

And every shipmaster and every seafarer^h and sailors and all those who labor on the sea stood far off^{i 18}and began to cry out when they^* saw the smoke of her burning, saying, “Who is like the great city?” ¹⁹And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,

“Woe, woe, the great city,

in which all those who had ships on the sea

became rich from her prosperity,

because in one hour she has been laid waste!”

²⁰Rejoice over her, heaven

and the saints and the apostles and the prophets,

because God has pronounced your judgment on her!”

²¹And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“In this way Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence,

and will never be found again!

²²And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters

will never be heard in you again!

And every craftsman of every trade

will never be found in you again!

And the sound of a mill

will never be heard in you again!

²³And the light of a lamp

will never shine in you again!

And the sound of a bridegroom and bride

will never be heard in you again!

For your merchants were the most important people of the earth,

because with your sorcery they deceived all the nations.

²⁴And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints

and all those who had been slaughtered on the earth.

Rejoicing in Heaven

19After these things I heard something like the loud sound of a great crowd in heaven saying,

“Hallelujah!

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

²because his judgments are true and righteous,

because he has passed judgment on the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his slaves shed by^a her hand!”

³And a second time they said,

“Hallelujah!”

And her smoke goes up forever and ever^b. ⁴And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying,

“Amen! Hallelujah!”

⁵And a voice came out from the throne, saying,

“Praise our God

all his slaves,

and those who fear him,

the small and the great!”

The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb

⁶And I heard something like the sound of a great crowd and something like the sound of many waters and something like the sound of powerful thunder, saying,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord God,^c the All-Powerful, reigns!

⁷Let us rejoice and be glad

and give him the glory,

because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has prepared herself.

⁸And it has been granted to her that she be dressed in bright, clean fine linen (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints).

⁹And he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet of the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰And I fell down before his feet to worship him, and he said to me, “Do not do that!^d I am a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Warrior on the White Horse

¹¹And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice^e he judges and makes war. ¹²Now his eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many royal headbands having a name written that no one except he himself knows. ¹³And he was dressed in an outer garment dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies that are in heaven, dressed in clean, white fine linen, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵And out of his mouth came a sharp sword, so that with it he could strike the nations. And he will shepherd them with an iron rod,^f and he stomps the winepress of the wine of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. ¹⁶And he has a name written on his outer garment and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

¹⁷And I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly directly overhead^g,

“Come! Assemble for the great banquet of God,

¹⁸in order that you may eat the flesh of kings,

and the flesh of military tribunes,

and the flesh of the powerful,

and the flesh of horses and those…