Revelation 15-18

New American Standard Bible

A Scene of Heaven

15 Then I saw ^(A)another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, ^(B)seven angels who had ^(C)seven plagues, which are ^(D)the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.

² And I saw something like a ^(E)sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who ^(F)were victorious ^[a]over the ^(G)beast and ^(H)his image and the ^(I)number of his name, standing on the ^(J)sea of glass, holding ^(K)harps of God. ³ And they *sang the ^(L)song of Moses, ^(M)the bond-servant of God, and the ^(N)song of the Lamb, saying,

⁵ After these things I looked, and ^(U)the ^[d]temple of the ^(V)tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, ⁶ and the ^(W)seven angels who had the seven plagues ^(X)came out of the ^[e]temple, clothed in ^[f]linen, clean and bright, and ^(Y)their chests wrapped with golden sashes. ⁷ And one of the ^(Z)four living creatures gave the ^(AA)seven angels seven ^(AB)golden bowls full of the ^(AC)wrath of God, who ^(AD)lives forever and ever. ⁸ And the ^[g]temple was filled with ^(AE)smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the ^[h]temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

The Bowls of Wrath

16 Then I heard a loud voice from ^(AF)the ^[i]temple, saying to the ^(AG)seven angels, “Go and ^(AH)pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

² So the first angel went and poured out his bowl ^(AI)on the earth; and a harmful and painful ^(AJ)sore ^[j]afflicted the people ^(AK)who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

³ The second angel poured out his bowl ^(AL)into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living ^[k]thing in the sea died.

⁴ Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the ^(AM)rivers and the springs of waters; and they ^(AN)became blood. ⁵ And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “^(AO)Righteous are You, ^(AP)the One who is and who was, O ^(AQ)Holy One, because You ^(AR)judged these things; ⁶ for they poured out ^(AS)the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them ^(AT)blood to drink. They ^[l]deserve it.” ⁷ And I heard ^(AU)the altar saying, “Yes, ^(AV)Lord God, the Almighty, ^(AW)true and righteous are Your judgments.”

⁸ And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon ^(AX)the sun, ^(AY)and it was given power to scorch people with fire. ⁹ And the people were scorched with ^[m]fierce heat; and they ^(AZ)blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they ^(BA)did not repent so as to ^(BB)give Him glory.

¹⁰ And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the ^(BC)throne of the beast, and his kingdom became ^(BD)darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, ¹¹ and they ^(BE)blasphemed the ^(BF)God of heaven because of their pain and their ^(BG)sores; and they ^(BH)did not repent of their deeds.

¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the ^(BI)great river, the Euphrates; and ^(BJ)its water was dried up, so that ^(BK)the way would be prepared for the kings ^(BL)from the ^[n]east.

Har-Magedon (Armageddon)

¹³ And I saw coming out of the mouth of the ^(BM)dragon, and out of the mouth of the ^(BN)beast, and out of the mouth of the ^(BO)false prophet, three ^(BP)unclean spirits like ^(BQ)frogs; ¹⁴ for they are ^(BR)spirits of demons, ^(BS)performing signs, which go out to the kings of the ^(BT)entire ^[o]world, to ^(BU)gather them together for the war of the ^(BV)great day of God, the Almighty. ¹⁵ (“Behold, ^(BW)I am coming like a thief. ^(BX)Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, ^(BY)so that he will not walk about naked and people will not see his shame.”) ¹⁶ And they ^(BZ)gathered them together to the place which ^(CA)in Hebrew is called ^(CB)Har-Magedon.

The Seventh Bowl of Wrath

¹⁷ Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon ^(CC)the air, and a ^(CD)loud voice came out of the ^[p](CE)temple from the throne, saying, “^(CF)It is done.” ¹⁸ And there were flashes of ^(CG)lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was ^(CH)a great earthquake, ^(CI)such as there had not been since mankind came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. ^19 (CJ)The great city ^[q]was split into three parts, and the cities of the ^[r]nations fell. ^(CK)Babylon the great was ^(CL)remembered in the sight of God, to give her ^(CM)the cup of the wine of ^[s]His fierce wrath. ²⁰ And ^(CN)every island fled, and no mountains were found. ²¹ And ^(CO)huge ^[t]hailstones, weighing about ^[u]a talent each, *came down from heaven upon people; and people ^(CP)blasphemed God because of the ^(CQ)plague of the hail, because ^[v]the hailstone plague *was extremely ^[w]severe.

The Doom of Babylon

17 ^(CR)Then one of the ^(CS)seven angels who had the ^(CT)seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you ^(CU)the judgment of the ^(CV)great prostitute who ^(CW)sits on many waters, ² with whom ^(CX)the kings of the earth committed acts of sexual immorality, and ^(CY)those who live on the earth ^(CZ)became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³ And ^(DA)he carried me away ^[x](DB)in the Spirit ^(DC)into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a ^(DD)scarlet beast, full of ^(DE)blasphemous names, having ^(DF)seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(DG)was clothed in purple and scarlet, and ^[y]adorned with gold, precious ^[z]stones, and pearls, holding in her hand ^(DH)a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality, ⁵ and on her forehead a name was written, ^[aa]a ^(DI)mystery: “^(DJ)BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF ^(DK)THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with ^(DL)the blood of the ^[ab]saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered ^[ac]greatly. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why ^[ad]do you wonder? I will tell you the ^(DM)mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the ^(DN)seven heads and the ten horns.

⁸ “^(DO)The beast that you saw ^(DP)was, and is not, and is about to ^(DQ)come up out of the ^(DR)abyss and ^[ae](DS)go to destruction. And ^(DT)those who live on the earth, ^(DU)whose names have not been written in the book of life ^(DV)from the foundation of the world, will ^(DW)wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will ^[af]come. ^9 (DX)Here is the mind which has wisdom. The ^(DY)seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits, ¹⁰ and they are seven ^(DZ)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 ^(EA)was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he ^(EB)goes to destruction. ¹² The ^(EC)ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast ^(ED)for one hour. ¹³ These have ^(EE)one ^[ag]purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Victory for the Lamb

¹⁴ These will wage ^(EF)war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will ^(EG)overcome them because He is ^(EH)Lord of lords and ^(EI)King of kings; and ^(EJ)those who are with Him are the ^(EK)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And he *said to me, “The ^(EL)waters which you saw where the prostitute sits are ^(EM)peoples and multitudes, and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ^(EN)ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her ^(EO)desolate and ^(EP)naked, and will ^(EQ)eat her flesh and will ^(ER)burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For ^(ES)God has put it in their hearts to execute His ^[ah]purpose ^[ai]by ^(ET)having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the ^(EU)words of God will be fulfilled. ¹⁸ The woman whom you saw is ^(EV)the great city, which ^[aj]reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Babylon Is Fallen

18 After these things I saw another ^(EW)angel ^(EX)coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was ^(EY)illuminated from his glory. ² And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “^[ak](EZ)Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She ^(FA)has become a dwelling place of demons and a ^[al]prison of every ^(FB)unclean spirit, and a ^[am]prison of every unclean and hateful bird. ³ For all the nations have fallen because of the ^(FC)wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and ^(FD)the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the ^(FE)merchants of the earth have become rich from the ^[an]excessive wealth of her ^[ao](FF)luxury.”

⁴ I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “^(FG)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 ^[ap](FH)piled up as high as heaven, and God has ^(FI)remembered her offenses. ^6 (FJ)Pay her back even as she has paid, and ^[aq]give back to her double according to her deeds; in the ^(FK)cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. ^7 (FL)To the extent that she glorified herself and ^(FM)lived luxuriously, to the same extent give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘^(FN)I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ ⁸ For this reason ^(FO)in one day her plagues will come, ^[ar]plague and mourning and famine, and she will be ^(FP)burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her ^(FQ)is strong.

Grief over Babylon

⁹ “And ^(FR)the kings of the earth, who committed acts of sexual immorality and ^(FS)lived luxuriously with her, will ^(FT)weep and mourn over her when they ^(FU)see the smoke of her burning, ^10 (FV)standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘^(FW)Woe, woe, ^(FX)the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in ^(FY)one hour your judgment has come.’

¹¹ “And the ^(FZ)merchants of the earth ^(GA)weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— ¹² cargo of ^(GB)gold, silver, precious ^[as]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, ^[at]bronze, iron, and marble; ¹³ cinnamon, ^[au]spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, ^[av]slaves, and ^(GC)human lives. ¹⁴ The fruit ^[aw]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 ^(GD)merchants of ^(GE)these things, who became rich from her, will ^(GF)stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶ saying, ‘^(GG)Woe, woe, ^(GH)the great city, she who ^(GI)was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and ^[ax]adorned with gold, precious ^[ay]stones, and pearls; ¹⁷ for in ^(GJ)one hour such great wealth has been laid ^(GK)waste!’ And ^(GL)every shipmaster and every ^[az]passenger and sailor, and all who ^[ba]make their living by the sea, ^(GM)stood at a distance, ¹⁸ and were ^(GN)crying out as they ^(GO)saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘^(GP)What city is like ^(GQ)the great city?’ ¹⁹ And they threw ^(GR)dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘^(GS)Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea ^(GT)became rich from her prosperity, for in ^(GU)one hour she has been laid ^(GV)waste!’ ^20 (GW)Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you ^[bb]saints and ^(GX)apostles and prophets, because ^(GY)God has ^[bc]pronounced judgment for you against her.”

²¹ Then ^[bd]a ^(GZ)strong angel ^(HA)picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, ^(HB)the great city, be thrown down with violence, and ^(HC)will never be found again. ²² And ^(HD)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 ^(HE)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 ^(HF)voice of the groom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your ^(HG)merchants were the powerful people of the earth, because all the nations were deceived ^(HH)by your witchcraft. ²⁴ And in her was found the ^(HI)blood of prophets and of ^[be]saints, and of ^(HJ)all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”