The Doom of Babylon

17 ^(A)Then one of the ^(B)seven angels who had the ^(C)seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you ^(D)the judgment of the ^(E)great prostitute who ^(F)sits on many waters, ² with whom ^(G)the kings of the earth committed acts of sexual immorality, and ^(H)those who live on the earth ^(I)became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³ And ^(J)he carried me away ^[a](K)in the Spirit ^(L)into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a ^(M)scarlet beast, full of ^(N)blasphemous names, having ^(O)seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(P)was clothed in purple and scarlet, and ^[b]adorned with gold, precious ^[c]stones, and pearls, holding in her hand ^(Q)a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality, ⁵ and on her forehead a name was written, ^[d]a ^(R)mystery: “^(S)BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF ^(T)THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with ^(U)the blood of the ^[e]saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered ^[f]greatly. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why ^[g]do you wonder? I will tell you the ^(V)mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the ^(W)seven heads and the ten horns.

⁸ “^(X)The beast that you saw ^(Y)was, and is not, and is about to ^(Z)come up out of the ^(AA)abyss and ^[h](AB)go to destruction. And ^(AC)those who live on the earth, ^(AD)whose names have not been written in the book of life ^(AE)from the foundation of the world, will ^(AF)wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will ^[i]come. ^9 (AG)Here is the mind which has wisdom. The ^(AH)seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits, ¹⁰ and they are seven ^(AI)kings; 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 ^(AJ)was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he ^(AK)goes to destruction. ¹² The ^(AL)ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast ^(AM)for one hour. ¹³ These have ^(AN)one ^[j]purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Victory for the Lamb

¹⁴ These will wage ^(AO)war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will ^(AP)overcome them because He is ^(AQ)Lord of lords and ^(AR)King of kings; and ^(AS)those who are with Him are the ^(AT)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And he *said to me, “The ^(AU)waters which you saw where the prostitute sits are ^(AV)peoples and multitudes, and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ^(AW)ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her ^(AX)desolate and ^(AY)naked, and will ^(AZ)eat her flesh and will ^(BA)burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For ^(BB)God has put it in their hearts to execute His ^[k]purpose ^[l]by ^(BC)having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the ^(BD)words of God will be fulfilled. ¹⁸ The woman whom you saw is ^(BE)the great city, which ^[m]reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Babylon Is Fallen

18 After these things I saw another ^(BF)angel ^(BG)coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was ^(BH)illuminated from his glory. ² And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “^[n](BI)Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She ^(BJ)has become a dwelling place of demons and a ^[o]prison of every ^(BK)unclean spirit, and a ^[p]prison of every unclean and hateful bird. ³ For all the nations have fallen because of the ^(BL)wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and ^(BM)the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the ^(BN)merchants of the earth have become rich from the ^[q]excessive wealth of her ^[r](BO)luxury.”

⁴ I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “^(BP)Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues; ⁵ for her sins have ^[s](BQ)piled up as high as heaven, and God has ^(BR)remembered her offenses. ^6 (BS)Pay her back even as she has paid, and ^[t]give back to her double according to her deeds; in the ^(BT)cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. ^7 (BU)To the extent that she glorified herself and ^(BV)lived luxuriously, to the same extent give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘^(BW)I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ ⁸ For this reason ^(BX)in one day her plagues will come, ^[u]plague and mourning and famine, and she will be ^(BY)burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her ^(BZ)is strong.

Grief over Babylon

⁹ “And ^(CA)the kings of the earth, who committed acts of sexual immorality and ^(CB)lived luxuriously with her, will ^(CC)weep and mourn over her when they ^(CD)see the smoke of her burning, ^10 (CE)standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘^(CF)Woe, woe, ^(CG)the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in ^(CH)one hour your judgment has come.’

¹¹ “And the ^(CI)merchants of the earth ^(CJ)weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— ¹² cargo of ^(CK)gold, silver, precious ^[v]stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; every kind of citron wood, every article of ivory, and every article made from very valuable wood, ^[w]bronze, iron, and marble; ¹³ cinnamon, ^[x]spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, ^[y]slaves, and ^(CL)human lives. ¹⁴ The fruit ^[z]you long for has left you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and people will no longer find them. ¹⁵ The ^(CM)merchants of ^(CN)these things, who became rich from her, will ^(CO)stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶ saying, ‘^(CP)Woe, woe, ^(CQ)the great city, she who ^(CR)was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and ^[aa]adorned with gold, precious ^[ab]stones, and pearls; ¹⁷ for in ^(CS)one hour such great wealth has been laid ^(CT)waste!’ And ^(CU)every shipmaster and every ^[ac]passenger and sailor, and all who ^[ad]make their living by the sea, ^(CV)stood at a distance, ¹⁸ and were ^(CW)crying out as they ^(CX)saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘^(CY)What city is like ^(CZ)the great city?’ ¹⁹ And they threw ^(DA)dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘^(DB)Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea ^(DC)became rich from her prosperity, for in ^(DD)one hour she has been laid ^(DE)waste!’ ^20 (DF)Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you ^[ae]saints and ^(DG)apostles and prophets, because ^(DH)God has ^[af]pronounced judgment for you against her.”

²¹ Then ^[ag]a ^(DI)strong angel ^(DJ)picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, ^(DK)the great city, be thrown down with violence, and ^(DL)will never be found again. ²² And ^(DM)the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again; and the ^(DN)sound of a mill will never be heard in you again; ²³ and the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the ^(DO)voice of the groom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your ^(DP)merchants were the powerful people of the earth, because all the nations were deceived ^(DQ)by your witchcraft. ²⁴ And in her was found the ^(DR)blood of prophets and of ^[ah]saints, and of ^(DS)all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”