³⁸ But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things.

The Scarlet Woman and the Scarlet Beast

17 Then ^(A)one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying ^[a]to me, “Come, ^(B)I will show you the judgment of ^(C)the great harlot ^(D)who sits on many waters, ^2 (E)with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and ^(F)the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

³ So he carried me away in the Spirit ^(G)into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting ^(H)on a scarlet beast which was full of ^(I)names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(J)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, ^(K)and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, ^(L)having in her hand a golden cup ^(M)full of abominations and the filthiness of ^[b]her fornication. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written:

^(N)MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS
OF THE EARTH.

¹² And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, ^(A)whose deadly wound was healed. ^13 (B)He performs great signs, ^(C)so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. ^14 (D)And he deceives ^[a]those who dwell on the earth ^(E)by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword ^(F)and lived. ¹⁵ He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak ^(G)and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, ^(H)to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ and that no one may buy or sell except one who has ^[b]the mark or ^(I)the name of the beast, ^(J)or the number of his name.

The Great Apostasy

4 Now the Spirit ^[a]expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed ^(A)to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,

Idolatry Is Foolishness