^17:3So⁵ he carried me away in the Spirit⁶ to a wilderness,⁷ and there⁸ I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ^17:4Now⁹ the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet clothing,¹⁰ and adorned with gold,¹¹ precious stones, and pearls. She held¹² in her hand a golden cup filled with detestable things and unclean things from her sexual immorality.¹³^17:5On¹⁴ her forehead was written a name, a mystery:¹⁵ “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” ^17:6I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of those who testified to Jesus.¹⁶ I¹⁷ was greatly astounded¹⁸ when I saw her.

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Footnotes

5 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation to witness the fate of the prostitute.
6 Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [], ).
7 Or “desert.”
8 The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
9 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the detailed description of the woman, which is somewhat parenthetical in nature.
10 The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.
11 Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).
12 Grk “pearls, having in her hand.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
13 Several (including 1611 1854 2053 𝔐K ) read “sexual immorality on/of the earth” (πορνείας τῆς γῆς, porneias tēs gēs) instead of “her sexual immorality.” Other (א syh** [co]) read “her sexual immorality and the earth’s” (πορνείας αὐτῆς καὶ τῆς γῆς, porneias aujtēs kai tēs gēs). The translation is a rendering of πορνείας αὐτῆς, found in {A 1006 2344 }. It seems that the first reading “sexuality immorality on/of the earth” was a scribal mistake in which letters may have been confused (ΑΥΤΗΣ would have been read as ΤΗΣΓΗΣ), or was perhaps influenced by the presence of “of the world” (τῆς γῆς) at the end of v. 5. The original wording seems to be “her sexual immorality”; codex א has conflated the two readings.
14 Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
15 Some translations consider the word μυστήριον (mustērion, “mystery”) a part of the name written (“Mystery Babylon the Great,” so , ), but the gender of both ὄνομα (onoma, “name”) and μυστήριον are neuter, while the gender of “Babylon” is feminine. This strongly suggests that μυστήριον should be understood as an appositive to ὄνομα (“a name, i.e., a mystery”).
16 Or “of the witnesses to Jesus.” Here the genitive Ἰησοῦ (Iēsou) is taken as an objective genitive; Jesus is the object of their testimony.
17 Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
18 Grk “I marveled a great marvel” (an idiom for great astonishment).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

When I saw her, I marveled greatly.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery:

babylon the great

the mother of prostitutes

and of the abominations of the earth.

I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then he carried me away in the Spirit to a wilderness.

I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls. She had a golden cup in her hand filled with everything detestable and with the impurities of her prostitution. On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Detestable Things of the Earth. Then I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

NLTNew Living Translation

So the angel took me in the Spirit into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, and blasphemies against God were written all over it. The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality. A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.” I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. And 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. And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” And 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.

KJV 1900King James Version

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

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