Revelation 16–18

¹And I heard a great voice out of the sanctuary saying to the seven messengers, ‘Go away, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God to the earth;’ ²and the first did go away, and did pour out his vial upon the land, and there came a sore—bad and grievous—to men, those having the mark of the beast, and those bowing to his image. ³And the second messenger did pour out his vial to the sea, and there came blood as of one dead, and every living soul died in the sea. ⁴And the third messenger did pour out his vial to the rivers, and to the fountains of the waters, and there came blood, ⁵and I heard the messenger of the waters, saying, ‘righteous, O Lord, art Thou, who art, and who wast, and who shalt be, because these things Thou didst judge, ⁶because blood of saints and prophets they did pour out, and blood to them Thou didst give to drink, for they are worthy;’ ⁷and I heard another out of the altar, saying, ‘Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments.’

⁸And the fourth messenger did pour out his vial upon the sun, and there was given to him to scorch men with fire, ⁹and men were scorched with great heat, and they did speak evil of the name of God, who hath authority over these plagues, and they did not reform—to give to Him glory. ¹⁰And the fifth messenger did pour out his vial upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom did become darkened, and they were gnawing their tongues from the pain, ¹¹and they did speak evil of the God of the heaven, from their pains, and from their sores, and they did not reform from their works.

¹²And the sixth messenger did pour out his vial upon the great river, the Euphrates, and dried up was its water, that the way of the kings who are from the rising of the sun may be made ready; ¹³and I saw come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs— ¹⁴for they are spirits of demons, doing signs—which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to bring them together to the battle of that great day of God the Almighty;— ¹⁵‘lo, I do come as a thief; happy is he who is watching, and keeping his garments, that he may not walk naked, and they may see his unseemliness,’— ¹⁶and they did bring them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon.

¹⁷And the seventh messenger did pour out his vial to the air, and there came forth a great voice from the sanctuary of the heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It hath come!’ ¹⁸and there came voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and a great earthquake came, such as came not since men came upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake—so great! ¹⁹And it came—the great city—into three parts, and the cities of the nations did fall, and Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the wrath of His anger, ²⁰and every island did flee away, and mountains were not found, ²¹and great hail (as of talent weight) doth come down out of the heaven upon men, and men did speak evil of God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague is very great.

Chapter 17

¹And there came one of the seven messengers, who were having the seven vials, and he spake with me, saying to me, ‘Come, I will shew to thee the judgment of the great whore, who is sitting upon the many waters, ²with whom the kings of the earth did commit whoredom; and made drunk from the wine of her whoredom were those inhabiting the earth;’ ³and he carried me away to a wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of evil-speaking, having seven heads and ten horns, ⁴and the woman was arrayed with purple and scarlet-colour, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom, ⁵and upon her forehead was a name written: ‘Secret, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whores, and the Abominations of the earth.’ ⁶And I saw the woman drunken from the blood of the saints, and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and I did wonder—having seen her—with great wonder.

⁷And the messenger said to me, ‘Wherefore didst thou wonder? I—I will tell thee the secret of the woman and of the beast that is carrying her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.

⁸‘The beast that thou didst see: it was, and it is not; and it is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go away to destruction, and wonder shall those dwelling upon the earth, whose names have not been written upon the scroll of the life from the foundation of the world, beholding the beast that was, and is not, although it is.

⁹‘Here is the mind that is having wisdom; the seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman doth sit, ¹⁰and there are seven kings, the five did fall, and the one is, the other did not yet come, and when he may come, it behoveth him to remain a little time; ¹¹and the beast that was, and is not, he also is eighth, and out of the seven he is, and to destruction he doth go away.

¹²‘And the ten horns that thou sawest, are ten kings, who a kingdom did not yet receive, but authority as kings the same hour do receive with the beast, ¹³these have one mind, and their own power and authority to the beast they shall give over.

¹⁴These with the Lamb shall make war, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because Lord of lords he is, and King of kings, and those with him are called, and choice, and stedfast.’ ¹⁵And he saith to me, ‘The waters that thou didst see, where the whore doth sit, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues;’ ¹⁶and the ten horns that thou didst see upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her in fire, ¹⁷for God did give into their hearts to do its mind, and to make one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast till the sayings of God may be complete, ¹⁸and the woman that thou didst see is the great city that is having reign over the kings of the land.’

Chapter 18

¹And after these things I saw another messenger coming down out of the heaven, having great authority, and the earth was lightened from his glory, ²and he did cry in might—a great voice, saying, ‘Fall, fall did Babylon the great, and she became a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird, ³because of the wine of the wrath of her whoredom have all the nations drunk, and the kings of the earth with her did commit whoredom, and merchants of the earth from the power of her revel were made rich.’ ⁴And I heard another voice out of the heaven, saying, ‘Come forth out of her, My people, that ye may not partake with her sins, and that ye may not receive of her plagues, ⁵because her sins did follow—unto the heaven, and God did remember her unrighteousness. ⁶Render to her as also she did render to you, and double to her doubles according to her works; in the cup that she did mingle mingle to her double.

⁷‘As much as she did glorify herself and did revel, so much torment and sorrow give to her, because in her heart she saith, I sit a queen, and a widow I am not, and sorrow I shall not see; ⁸because of this, in one day, shall come her plagues, death, and sorrow, and famine; and in fire she shall be utterly burned, because strong is the Lord God who is judging her.

⁹And weep over her, and smite themselves for her, shall the kings of the earth, who with her did commit whoredom and did revel, when they may see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰from afar having stood because of the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city! Babylon, the strong city! because in one hour did come thy judgment. ¹¹‘And the merchants of the earth shall weep and sorrow over her, because their lading no one doth buy any more; ¹²lading of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearl, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel of most precious wood, and brass, and iron, and marble, ¹³and cinnamon, and odours, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep, and of horses, and of chariots, and of bodies and souls of men.

¹⁴‘And the fruits of the desire of thy soul did go away from thee, and all things—the dainty and the bright—did go away from thee, and no more at all mayest thou find them. ¹⁵The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, far off shall stand because of the fear of her torment, weeping, and sorrowing, ¹⁶and saying, Woe, woe, the great city, that was arrayed with fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and gilded in gold, and precious stone, and pearls—because in one hour so much riches were made waste!

¹⁷‘And every shipmaster, and all the company upon the ships, and sailors, and as many as work the sea, far off stood, ¹⁸and were crying, seeing the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like to the great city? ¹⁹and they did cast dust upon their heads, and were crying out, weeping and sorrowing, saying, Woe, woe, the great city! in which were made rich all having ships in the sea, out of her costliness—for in one hour was she made waste.

²⁰‘Be glad over her, O heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, because God did judge your judgment of her!’ ²¹And one strong messenger did take up a stone as a great millstone, and did cast it to the sea, saying, ‘Thus with violence shall Babylon be cast, the great city, and may not be found any more at all; ²²and voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters, may not be heard at all in thee any more; and any artisan of any art may not be found at all in thee any more; and noise of a millstone may not be heard at all in thee any more; ²³and light of a lamp may not shine at all in thee any more; and voice of bridegroom and of bride may not be heard at all in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great ones of the earth, because in thy sorcery…