Revelation 16–18

The Bowls of God’s Wrath

¹⁶Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”^*

²So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and a foul and painful sore came on those who had the brand of the beast and who worshiped its image.^*

³The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died.^*

⁴The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.^{* 5}And I heard the angel of the waters say,

“You are just, O Holy One, who are and were,

for you have judged these things;^*

⁶because they shed the blood of saints and prophets,

you have given them blood to drink.

It is what they deserve!”

⁷And I heard the altar respond,

“Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty,

your judgments are true and just!”^*

⁸The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire; ⁹they were scorched by the fierce heat, but they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.^*

¹⁰The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony^{* 11}and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.

¹²The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great River Euphrates, and its water was dried up in order to prepare the way for the kings from the east.^{* 13}And I saw three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet.^{* 14}These are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.^{* 15}(“See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed,^z not going about naked and exposed to shame.”)^{* 16}And the demonic spirits^a assembled the kings^b at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon.

¹⁷The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” ¹⁸And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were upon the earth, so violent was that earthquake.^{* 19}The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered great Babylon and gave her the wine cup of the fury of his wrath.^{* 20}And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found, ²¹and huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,^c dropped from heaven on people, until they cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.^*

The Great Whore and the Beast

¹⁷Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore^d who is seated on many waters,^{* 2}with whom the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality^e and with the wine of whose prostitution the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.”^{* 3}So he carried me away in the spirit^f 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.^{* 4}The woman was clothed 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 prostitution,^{* 5}and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, mother^g of whores^h and of earth’s abominations.”^{* 6}And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly amazed.^{* 7}But the angel said to me, “Why are you so amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to ascend from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.^*

⁹“This calls for a mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; also, they are seven kings,^{* 10}of whom five have fallen, one is living, and the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only a little while. ¹¹As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. ¹²And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast.^{* 13}These are united in yielding their power and authority to the beast; ¹⁴they will wage war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for 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 whoreⁱ is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.^{* 16}And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the whore;^j they will make her desolate and naked; they will devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.^{* 17}For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.^{* 18}The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”^*

The Fall of Babylon

¹⁸After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined by his splendor.^{* 2}He called out with a mighty voice,

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

It has become a dwelling place of demons,

a haunt of every foul spirit,

a haunt of every foul bird,

a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.^k*

³For all the nations have fallen^l

from the wine of the wrath of her prostitution,

and the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality^m with her,

and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the powerⁿ of her luxury.”^*

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

“Come out of her, my people,

so that you do not take part in her sins

and so that you do not share in her plagues,^*

⁵for her sins are heaped high as heaven,

and God has remembered her iniquities.^*

⁶Render to her as she herself has rendered,

and repay her double for her deeds;

mix a double dose for her in the cup she mixed.^*

⁷As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,

so give her a like measure of torment and grief.

Since in her heart she says,

‘I rule as a queen;

I am no widow,

and I will never see grief,’^*

⁸therefore her plagues will come in a single day—

pestilence and mourning and famine—

and she will be burned with fire,

for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”^*

⁹And the kings of the earth, who engaged in sexual immorality^o and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning;^{* 10}they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

“Alas, alas, the great city,

Babylon, the mighty city!

For in one hour your judgment has come.”^*

¹¹And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, ¹²cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble,^{* 13}cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves—and human lives.^p*

¹⁴“The fruit for which your soul longed

has gone from you,

and all your delicacies and your splendor

are lost to you,

never to be found again!”

¹⁵The merchants of these wares, who grew wealthy from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,^*

¹⁶“Alas, alas, the great city,

clothed in fine linen,

in purple and scarlet,

adorned with gold,

with jewels, and with pearls!^*

¹⁷For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!”

And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off^{* 18}and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,

“What city was like the great city?”^*

¹⁹And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

“Alas, alas, the great city,

where all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For in one hour she has been laid waste.”^*

²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her condemnation of you.^*

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

“With such violence Babylon the great city

will be thrown down

and will be found no more;^*

²²and the sound of harpists and entertainers and of flutists and trumpeters

will be heard in you no more,

and an artisan of any trade

will be found in you no more,

and the sound of the millstone

will be heard in you no more,^*

²³and the light of a lamp

will shine in you no more,

and the voice of bridegroom and bride

will be heard in you no more,

for your merchants were the magnates of the earth,

and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.^*

²⁴And in you^q was found the blood of prophets and of saints

and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.”^*