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,^{(A) 5} and on her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, mother^[a] of whores^[b] and of earth’s abominations.”^{(B) 6} And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly amazed.^(C)

⁸ But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.^{(A) 9} But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him^{(B) 10} and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?^{(C) 11} And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he fumbled about for someone to lead him by the hand.^{(D) 12} When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

⁷ The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners, and the king said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me its interpretation shall be clothed in purple, have a chain of gold around his neck, and rank third in the kingdom.”^{(A) 8} Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king the interpretation.^{(B) 9} Then King Belshazzar became greatly terrified, and his face turned pale, and his lords were perplexed.^(C)