³⁸ He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor ^(A)with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.

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,

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, ^2 (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.” ³ 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. ⁴ 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. ⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of ^(P)mystery: ^(Q)“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.”

¹² It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,^[a] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^(A)whose mortal wound was healed. ^13 (B)It performs great signs, even ^(C)making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, ¹⁴ and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of^[b] the beast ^(D)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ^(E)that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not ^(F)worship the image of the beast ^(G)to be slain. ¹⁶ Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{[c] (H)}to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷ so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, ^(I)the name of the beast or ^(J)the number of its name.

Some Will Depart from the Faith

4 Now ^(A)the Spirit expressly says that ^(B)in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to ^(C)deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

The Folly of Idolatry

^9 (A)All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.