Revelation 17–18

Chapter 17

The Doom of Babylon

^1aThen one of the ^bseven angels who had the ^cseven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you ^dthe judgment of the ^egreat harlot who ^fsits on many waters,

²with whom ^athe kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and ^bthose who dwell on the earth were ^cmade drunk with the wine of her immorality.”

³And ^ahe carried me away ^1bin the Spirit ^cinto a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a ^dscarlet beast, full of ^eblasphemous names, having ^fseven heads and ten horns.

⁴The woman ^awas clothed in purple and scarlet, and ¹adorned with gold and precious ²stones and pearls, having in her hand ^ba gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality,

⁵and on her forehead a name was written, a ^amystery, “^bBABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF ^cTHE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

⁶And I saw the woman drunk with ^athe blood of the ¹saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered ²greatly.

⁷And the angel said to me, “Why ¹do you wonder? I will tell you the ^amystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the ^bseven heads and the ten horns.

⁸“^aThe beast that you saw ^bwas, and is not, and is about to ^ccome up out of the ^dabyss and ^1ego to destruction. And ^fthose who dwell on the earth, ^gwhose name has not been written in the book of life ^hfrom the foundation of the world, will ⁱwonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.

⁹“^aHere is the mind which has wisdom. The ^bseven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits,

¹⁰and they are seven ^akings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.

¹¹“The beast which ^awas and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he ^bgoes to destruction.

¹²“The ^aten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast ^bfor one hour.

¹³“These have ^aone ¹purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Victory for the Lamb

¹⁴“These will wage ^awar against the Lamb, and the Lamb will ^bovercome them, because He is ^cLord of lords and King of kings, and ^dthose who are with Him are the ^ecalled and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵And he ^*said to me, “The ^awaters which you saw where the harlot sits, are ^bpeoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.

¹⁶“And the ^aten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her ^bdesolate and ^cnaked, and will ^deat her flesh and will ^eburn her up with fire.

¹⁷“For ^aGod has put it in their hearts to execute His ¹purpose ²by ^bhaving a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the ^cwords of God will be fulfilled.

¹⁸“The woman whom you saw is ^athe great city, which ¹reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Chapter 18

Babylon Is Fallen

¹After these things I saw another ^aangel ^bcoming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was ^cillumined with his glory.

²And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “^1aFallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She ^bhas become a dwelling place of demons and a ²prison of every ^cunclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

³“For all the nations ¹have drunk of the ^awine of the ²passion of her immorality, and ^bthe kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the ^cmerchants of the earth have become rich by the ³wealth of her ^4dsensuality.”

⁴I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “^aCome out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;

⁵for her sins have ^1apiled up as high as heaven, and God has ^bremembered her iniquities.

⁶“^aPay her back even as she has paid, and ¹give back to her double according to her deeds; in the ^bcup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.

⁷“^aTo the degree that she glorified herself and ^blived ¹sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘^cI sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’

⁸“For this reason ^ain one day her plagues will come, ¹pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be ^bburned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her ^cis strong.

Lament for Babylon

⁹“And ^athe kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and ^blived ¹sensuously with her, will ^cweep and lament over her when they ^dsee the smoke of her burning,

^10astanding at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘^bWoe, woe, ^cthe great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in ^done hour your judgment has come.’

¹¹“And the ^amerchants of the earth ^bweep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more—

¹²cargoes of ^agold and silver and precious ¹stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and ²bronze and iron and marble,

¹³and cinnamon and ¹spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and ²slaves and ^3ahuman lives.

¹⁴“The fruit ¹you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them.

¹⁵“The ^amerchants of ^bthese things, who became rich from her, will ^cstand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,

¹⁶saying, ‘^aWoe, woe, ^bthe great city, she who ^cwas clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and ¹adorned with gold and precious ²stones and pearls;

¹⁷for in ^aone hour such great wealth has been laid ^bwaste!’ And ^cevery shipmaster and every ¹passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance,

¹⁸and were ^acrying out as they ^bsaw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘^cWhat city is like ^dthe great city?’

¹⁹“And they threw ^adust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘^bWoe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea ^cbecame rich by her ¹wealth, for in one hour she has been laid ^dwaste!’

²⁰“^aRejoice over her, O heaven, and you ¹saints and ^bapostles and prophets, because ^cGod has ²pronounced judgment for you against her.”

²¹Then ¹a ^astrong angel ^btook up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, ^cthe great city, be thrown down with violence, and ^dwill not be found any longer.

²²“And ^athe sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the ^bsound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer;

²³and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the ^avoice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your ^bmerchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived ^cby your sorcery.

²⁴“And in her was found the ^ablood of prophets and of ¹saints and of ^ball who have been slain on the earth.”