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)

¹⁵ And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the whore^[a] is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.^(A)

¹³ And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth.^(A)

¹⁹ And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

¹¹ And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, ¹² cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble,^{(A) 13} cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves—and human lives.^[a](B)

¹⁵ The merchants of these wares, who grew wealthy from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,^(C)

And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off^(E)

¹¹ Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain and abandon themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain and perish in Korah’s rebellion.^{(A) 12} These are blots^[a] on your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves.^[b] They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted;^{(B) 13} wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.^(C)