Revelation 17–20

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.”^*

The Rejoicing in Heaven

¹⁹After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,

“Hallelujah!

Salvation and glory and power to our God,^*

²for his judgments are true and just;

he has judged the great whore^r

who corrupted the earth with her prostitution,

and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”^*

³Once more they said,

“Hallelujah!

The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.”^*

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 from the throne came a voice saying,

“Praise our God,

all you his servants

and^s all who fear him,

small and great.”^*

⁶Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out,

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord^t God

the Almighty reigns.^*

⁷Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready;^*

⁸to her it has been granted to be clothed

with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.^*

⁹And the angel said^u to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”^{* 10}Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold the testimony of Jesus.^v Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus^w is the spirit of prophecy.”^*

The Rider on the White Horse

¹¹Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and wages war.^{* 12}His eyes are like^x a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself.^{* 13}He is clothed in a robe dipped in^y blood, and his name is called The Word of God.^{* 14}And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule^z them with a scepter of iron; he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.^{* 16}On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”^*

The Beast and Its Armies Defeated

¹⁷Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,^{* 18}to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of the mighty, the flesh of horses and their riders—flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.”^{* 19}Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to wage war against the rider on the horse and against his army.^{* 20}And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed in its presence the signs by which he deceived those who had received the brand of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. ²¹And the rest were killed by the sword of the rider on the horse, the sword that came from his mouth, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

The Thousand Years

²⁰Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his…