The great prostitute

17 One of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came to me. ‘Come with me,’ he said. ‘I will show you how God will punish the great prostitute.^[a] She sits at a place where there are many rivers.^{[b] 2} It is like the kings who rule on the earth have had sex with that bad woman. She has led the people who live on the earth to do bad things. They have become drunk from the strong wine that she has given to them.’^[c]

³ Again, God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a wilderness. There I saw a woman who was sitting on a wild animal that was bright red. All over this wild animal, names were written that insulted God. The animal had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was wearing clothes that were made from expensive cloth. She also wore bright things that made her look beautiful. She shone with gold, valuable stones and pearls. She held a gold cup in her hand. The cup was full of the bad and disgusting things that she had caused people to do. ⁵ A name was written on the front of her head. Only God knows what it means. It was:

Powerful Babylon.

Mother of all prostitutes.

Mother of all the disgusting things on the earth.

⁶ I saw that the woman was like a drunk. She was like someone who had drunk the blood of God's people. She had killed them because they had told other people about Jesus. When I saw her, I was very surprised. ⁷ Then the angel asked me, ‘Why are you surprised? I will explain the secret of the woman to you. I will tell you the secret of the wild animal that she rides. The wild animal that you saw has seven heads and ten horns. ⁸ This animal was once alive, but it is not alive now. Soon it will come up out of the deep hole again but then God will destroy it completely.^[d] All these things will surprise many people who live on the earth. Those are the people whose names are not written in God's book of life from the beginning of the world. They will be surprised to see the animal that was alive at one time. It is not alive now, but it will soon appear again.

⁹ If you are wise, think carefully about this. The animal's seven heads are a picture of seven hills in the place where the woman sits.^{[e] 10} They are also a picture of seven kings. Five of these kings have already stopped ruling. Another king is ruling now. The last king has not yet come. When he does come, he must rule only for a short time. ¹¹ The wild animal is a picture of an eighth king. He was alive once, but he is not alive now. He belongs to the group of seven kings, but God will destroy him completely.

¹² The ten horns that you saw are a picture of ten more kings.^[f] They have not yet begun to rule anywhere. But they will receive authority to rule as kings for one hour. They will rule people together with the wild animal. ¹³ They all have the same purpose. They will give their power to the wild animal. They will give him authority to rule people. ¹⁴ Together they will fight a war against the Lamb. But the Lamb will win against them. He is the Lord above all lords. He is the King who rules over all kings. And God's people will be with him. They are the people that the Lamb has chosen to belong to him. They are the people who have continued to trust him.’

¹⁵ Then the angel said to me, ‘You saw the many rivers where the prostitute sits. Those rivers are a picture of people from many nations. They are crowds of people from different countries who speak many different languages. ¹⁶ The wild animal and the ten horns that you saw will hate the prostitute. Those rulers will destroy her. They will remove all her clothes. They will eat the meat on her body. Then they will burn her with fire.^{[g] 17} They will decide to do that because God has given them those thoughts. So, they will do what he wants. They will give to the wild animal their authority to rule as king. The animal will continue to rule until everything happens that God has said will happen. ¹⁸ The bad woman that you saw is a picture of the great city. That city has power over all the kings who rule on the earth.’