³⁸ He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these; a god whom his ancestors did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.

The Great Whore and the Beast

17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore^[a] who is seated on many waters,^{(A) 2} with whom the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality^[b] and with the wine of whose prostitution the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk.”^{(B) 3} So he carried me away in the spirit^[c] into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.^{(C) 4} The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her prostitution,^{(D) 5} and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, mother^[d] of whores^[e] and of earth’s abominations.”^(E)

¹² It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound^[a] had been healed. ¹³ It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all,^{(A) 14} and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword^[b] and yet lived,^{(B) 15} and it was allowed to give breath^[c] to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ Also, it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be given a brand on the right hand or the forehead,^{(C) 17} so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the brand, that is, the name of the beast or the number for its name.^(D)

False Asceticism

4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later^[a] times some will renounce^[b] the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,^(A)

The Absurdity of Idol Worship

⁹ All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know, and so they will be put to shame.^(A)