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.”

Joshua, the High Priest

3 Then he showed me ^(A)Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ^[a](B)Satan standing at his right to accuse him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, “^(C)The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has ^(D)chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a ^(E)log snatched from the fire?” ³ Now Joshua was clothed in ^(F)filthy garments and was standing before the angel. ⁴ And he responded and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “^(G)Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have ^(H)taken your guilt away from you and ^[b]will ^(I)clothe you with festive robes.” ⁵ Then I said, “Have them put a clean ^(J)headband on his head.” So they put the clean headband on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.

⁶ And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, ⁷ “The Lord of armies says this: ‘If you ^(K)walk in My ways and perform My service, then you will both ^(L)govern My house and be in charge of My ^(M)courtyards, and I will grant you ^[c]free access among these who are standing here.

The Branch

⁸ Now listen, Joshua, you high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a ^(N)sign: for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the ^[d](O)Branch. ⁹ For behold, the stone that I have put before Joshua; on one stone are ^(P)seven eyes. Behold, I am going to engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘and I will ^(Q)remove the guilt of that land in one day. ¹⁰ On that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his ^(R)vine and under his fig tree.’”

The Golden Lampstand and the Olive Trees

4 Then ^(S)the angel who had been speaking with me returned and ^(T)woke me, like a person who is awakened from his sleep. ² And he said to me, “^(U)What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a ^(V)lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its ^(W)seven lamps on it with seven ^[e]spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; ³ also ^(X)two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.” ⁴ Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying, “What are these, ^(Y)my lord?” ⁵ So ^(Z)the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “^(AA)Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” ⁶ Then he said to ^[f]me, “This is the word of the Lord to ^(AB)Zerubbabel, saying, ‘^(AC)Not by might nor by power, but by My ^(AD)Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies. ⁷ ‘What are you, you great ^(AE)mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring out the top stone with ^(AF)shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

⁸ Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have ^(AG)laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will ^(AH)finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of armies has sent me to ^[g]you. ¹⁰ For who has shown contempt for the day of ^(AI)small things? ^[h]But these ^(AJ)seven will rejoice when they see the ^[i](AK)plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—they are the ^(AL)eyes of the Lord ^(AM)roaming throughout the earth.”

¹¹ Then I said to him, “What are these ^(AN)two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?” ¹² And I responded the second time and said to him, “What are the two olive ^[j]branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?” ¹³ So he answered me, saying, “^(AO)Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, ^(AP)my lord.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “These are the two ^[k](AQ)anointed ones, who are ^(AR)standing by the ^(AS)Lord of the whole earth.”

The Flying Scroll

5 Then I raised my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying ^(AT)scroll. ² And he said to me, “^(AU)What do you see?” And I said, “I see a flying scroll; its length is ^[l]twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.” ³ Then he said to me, “This is the ^(AV)curse that is going forth over the face of the entire ^[m]land; everyone who ^(AW)steals certainly will be purged away according to ^[n]the writing on one side, and everyone who ^(AX)swears falsely will be purged away according to ^[o]the writing on the other side. ⁴ I will ^(AY)make it go forth,” declares the Lord of armies, “and it will ^(AZ)enter the house of the ^(BA)thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and ^(BB)destroy it with its timber and stones.”

⁵ Then ^(BC)the angel who had been speaking with me went out and said to me, “Now raise your eyes and see what this is that is going forth.” ⁶ And I said, “What is it?” Then he said, “This is the ^[p](BD)ephah going forth.” Again he said, “This is their ^[q]appearance in all the ^[r]land. ⁷ And behold, a lead cover was lifted up.” He continued, “And this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.” ⁸ Then he said, “This is ^(BE)Wickedness!” And he thrust her into the middle of the ephah and threw the lead weight on its ^[s]opening. ⁹ Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of the ^(BF)stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. ¹⁰ So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the ephah?” ¹¹ Then he said to me, “To build a ^[t]temple for her in the land of ^(BG)Shinar; and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.”