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Revelation 17-19

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17 Then (A)one of the seven angels who had (B)the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of (C)the great prostitute (D)who is seated on many waters, (E)with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and (F)with the wine of whose sexual immorality (G)the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” And (H)he carried me away in the Spirit (I)into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on (J)a scarlet beast that was full of (K)blasphemous names, and (L)it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman (M)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned (N)with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand (O)a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of (P)mystery: (Q)“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” And I saw the woman, drunk (R)with the blood of the saints, the blood of (S)the martyrs of Jesus.[a]

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you (T)the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw (U)was, and is not, and (V)is about to rise from (W)the bottomless pit[b] and (X)go to destruction. And (Y)the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in (Z)the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because (AA)it was and is not and is to come. (AB)This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast (AC)that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And (AD)the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings (AE)for one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They (AF)will make war on the Lamb, and (AG)the Lamb will conquer them, for he is (AH)Lord of lords and (AI)King of kings, and those with him are (AJ)called and chosen and faithful.”

15 And the angel[c] said to me, (AK)“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And (AL)the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast (AM)will hate the prostitute. They will make her (AN)desolate and (AO)naked, and (AP)devour her flesh and (AQ)burn her up with fire, 17 for (AR)God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and (AS)handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is (AT)the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

The Fall of Babylon

18 After this I saw (AU)another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and (AV)the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice,

(AW)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
    She has become (AX)a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt (AY)for every unclean spirit,
    a haunt (AZ)for every unclean bird,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
For all nations have drunk[d]
    (BA)the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and (BB)the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
    and (BC)the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

(BD)“Come out of her, my people,
    lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for (BE)her sins are heaped high as heaven,
    and (BF)God has remembered her iniquities.
(BG)Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
    and repay her (BH)double for her deeds;
    mix a double portion for her (BI)in the cup she mixed.
(BJ)As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
    so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
    (BK)‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
    and mourning I shall never see.’
For this reason her plagues will come (BL)in a single day,
    death and mourning and famine,
and (BM)she will be burned up with fire;
    for (BN)mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

And (BO)the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, (BP)will weep and wail over her (BQ)when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 (BR)They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

“Alas! Alas! (BS)You great city,
    you mighty city, Babylon!
For (BT)in a single hour your judgment has come.”

11 And (BU)the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.[e]

14 “The fruit for which your soul longed
    has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
    are lost to you,
    never to be found again!”

15 (BV)The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, (BW)will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

16 “Alas, alas, for the great city
    (BX)that was clothed in fine linen,
        in purple and scarlet,
    adorned with gold,
        with jewels, and with pearls!
17 For (BY)in a single hour all this wealth (BZ)has been laid waste.”

And (CA)all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and (CB)cried out (CC)as they saw the smoke of her burning,

(CD)“What city was like the great city?”

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

“Alas, alas, for the great city
    (CF)where all who had ships at sea
    grew rich by her wealth!
For (CG)in a single hour she has been laid waste.
20 (CH)Rejoice over her, O heaven,
    and you saints and (CI)apostles and prophets,
for (CJ)God has given judgment for you against her!”

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

“So will Babylon (CM)the great city be thrown down with violence,
    and will be found no more;
22 and (CN)the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
    will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
    will be found in you no more,
and (CO)the sound of the mill
    will be heard in you no more,
23 and the light of a lamp
    will shine in you no more,
and (CP)the voice of bridegroom and bride
    will be heard in you no more,
for (CQ)your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
    and all nations were deceived (CR)by your sorcery.
24 And (CS)in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
    and of (CT)all who have been slain on earth.”

Rejoicing in Heaven

19 After this I heard (CU)what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

“Hallelujah!
(CV)Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
    for (CW)his judgments are true and just;
for he has judged (CX)the great prostitute
    who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and (CY)has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

Once more they cried out,

“Hallelujah!
(CZ)The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

And (DA)the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And from the throne came a voice saying,

(DB)“Praise our God,
    all you his servants,
(DC)you who fear him,
    small and great.”

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Then I heard what seemed to be (DD)the voice of a great multitude, like (DE)the roar of many waters and (DF)like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty (DG)reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for (DH)the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and (DI)his Bride has made herself ready;
(DJ)it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is (DK)the righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said[f] to me, “Write this: (DL)Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, (DM)“These are the true words of God.” 10 Then (DN)I fell down at his feet to worship him, (DO)but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to (DP)the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw (DQ)heaven opened, and behold, (DR)a white horse! The one sitting on it is called (DS)Faithful and True, and (DT)in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 (DU)His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are (DV)many diadems, and he has (DW)a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in (DX)a robe dipped in[g] blood, and the name by which he is called is (DY)The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, (DZ)arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, (EA)were following him on white horses. 15 (EB)From his mouth comes a sharp sword (EC)with which to strike down the nations, and (ED)he will rule[h] them with a rod of iron. (EE)He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh (EF)he has a name written, (EG)King of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to (EH)all the birds that fly directly overhead, (EI)“Come, gather for (EJ)the great supper of God, 18 (EK)to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,[i] both small and great.” 19 And I saw (EL)the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies (EM)gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it (EN)the false prophet (EO)who in its presence[j] had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who (EP)worshiped its image. These two were (EQ)thrown alive into the lake of (ER)fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword (ES)that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and (ET)all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.