Revelation 15-18

Lexham English Bible

Seven Angels with Seven Last Plagues

15 And I saw another great and marvelous sign in heaven: seven angels having seven plagues that are the last ones, because with them the wrath of God is completed. ² And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and his image and the number of his name were standing by^[a] the glassy sea, holding harps from God. ³ And they were singing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:

⁵ And after these things I looked, and the temple, the tent of the testimony in heaven, was opened, ⁶ and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out from the temple, dressed in clean, bright linen garments, and girded with golden belts around their^[d] chests. ⁷ And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever^[e], ⁸ and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

The Seven Bowls of the Wrath of God

16 And I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” ² And the first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and there was an evil and painful sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

³ And the second poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood, like that of a dead person, and every living thing that was in the sea died.

⁴ And the third poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. ⁵ And I heard the angel of the waters saying,

⁷ And I heard the altar saying,

⁸ And the fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was granted to it to burn up people with fire. ⁹ And people were burned up by the great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the authority over these plagues, and they did not repent to give him glory.

¹⁰ And the fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened, and they began chewing their tongues because of the pain. ¹¹ And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and because of their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.

¹² And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, in order that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east^[f]. ¹³ And I saw coming 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. ¹⁴ For they are the spirits of demons performing signs that go out to the kings of the whole inhabited world, to gather them for the battle of the great day of God the All-Powerful. ¹⁵ (Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is on the alert and who keeps his clothing, so that he does not walk around naked and they see his shamefulness!) ¹⁶ And he gathered them to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.

¹⁷ And the seventh poured out his bowl on the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” ¹⁸ And there were lightnings and sounds and thunders, and there was a great earthquake, as has not happened from the time humanity has been on the earth—so great in this way was the earthquake. ¹⁹ And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of his furious wrath.^{[g] 20} And every island fled, and mountains were not found. ²¹ And large hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds,^[h] came down from the sky upon people, and the people blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, because the plague of it was very great.

The Judgment of the Great Prostitute Babylon

17 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³ And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit,^[i] and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

And I was greatly astonished when I saw her^[j]. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is going to come up from the abyss, and he is going to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they^[k] see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present. ⁹ Here is the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits^[l] and they are seven kings. ¹⁰ Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and whenever he comes it is necessary for him to remain a short time. ¹¹ And the beast that was, and is not, is also himself an eighth, and is of the seven, and he is going to destruction. ¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. ¹³ These have one opinion, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and crowds and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For God put into their hearts to carry out his purpose and to make a unanimous decision^[m] and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.

Lament Over Babylon the Great

18 After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, who had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. ² And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,

⁴ And I heard another voice from heaven saying,

⁹ And the kings of the earth will weep and mourn over her, those who committed sexual immorality and lived sensually with her, when they see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰ standing far off^[p] because of the fear of her torment, saying,

¹¹ And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— ¹² cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble ¹³ and cinnamon and amomum^[q] and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and slaves^[r] and human lives.

¹⁵ The merchants of these things, who became rich from them, will stand far off^[t], weeping and mourning because of the fear of her torment, ¹⁶ saying,

And every shipmaster and every seafarer^[u] and sailors and all those who labor on the sea stood far off^{[v] 18} and began to cry out when they^[w] saw the smoke of her burning, saying, “Who is like the great city?” ¹⁹ And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,

²¹ And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,