Revelation 17:4-11

English Standard Version

⁴The woman ^(A)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ^(B)with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^(C)a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵And on her forehead was written a name of ^(D)mystery: ^(E)“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ⁶And I saw the woman, drunk ^(F)with the blood of the saints, the blood of ^(G)the martyrs of Jesus.^[a]

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^(H)the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸The beast that you saw ^(I)was, and is not, and ^(J)is about to rise from ^(K)the bottomless pit^[b] and ^(L)go to destruction. And ^(M)the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^(N)the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^(O)it was and is not and is to come. ⁹^(P)This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. ¹¹As for the beast ^(Q)that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction.