Chapter 17

The Doom of Babylon

1 aThen 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,

2 with 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.”

3 And 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.

4 The 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,

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

6 And 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.

7 And 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,

10 and 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 cKing of kings, and dthose who are with Him are the ecalled and chosen and faithful.”

15 And 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.”