Revelation 17-19

New American Standard Bible

The Doom of Babylon

17 ^(A)Then one of the ^(B)seven angels who had the ^(C)seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you ^(D)the judgment of the ^(E)great prostitute who ^(F)sits on many waters, ²with whom ^(G)the kings of the earth committed acts of sexual immorality, and ^(H)those who live on the earth ^(I)became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³And ^(J)he carried me away ^[a]^(K)in the Spirit ^(L)into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a ^(M)scarlet beast, full of ^(N)blasphemous names, having ^(O)seven heads and ten horns. ⁴The woman ^(P)was clothed in purple and scarlet, and ^[b]adorned with gold, precious ^[c]stones, and pearls, holding in her hand ^(Q)a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality, ⁵and on her forehead a name was written, ^[d]a ^(R)mystery: “^(S)BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF ^(T)THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” ⁶And I saw the woman drunk with ^(U)the blood of the ^[e]saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered ^[f]greatly. ⁷And the angel said to me, “Why ^[g]do you wonder? I will tell you the ^(V)mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the ^(W)seven heads and the ten horns.

⁸“^(X)The beast that you saw ^(Y)was, and is not, and is about to ^(Z)come up out of the ^(AA)abyss and ^[h]^(AB)go to destruction. And ^(AC)those who live on the earth, ^(AD)whose names have not been written in the book of life ^(AE)from the foundation of the world, will ^(AF)wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will ^[i]come. ⁹^(AG)Here is the mind which has wisdom. The ^(AH)seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits, ¹⁰and they are seven ^(AI)kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. ¹¹The beast which ^(AJ)was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he ^(AK)goes to destruction. ¹²The ^(AL)ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast ^(AM)for one hour. ¹³These have ^(AN)one ^[j]purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Victory for the Lamb

¹⁴These will wage ^(AO)war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will ^(AP)overcome them because He is ^(AQ)Lord of lords and ^(AR)King of kings; and ^(AS)those who are with Him are the ^(AT)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵And he *said to me, “The ^(AU)waters which you saw where the prostitute sits are ^(AV)peoples and multitudes, and nations and languages. ¹⁶And the ^(AW)ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her ^(AX)desolate and ^(AY)naked, and will ^(AZ)eat her flesh and will ^(BA)burn her up with fire. ¹⁷For ^(BB)God has put it in their hearts to execute His ^[k]purpose ^[l]by ^(BC)having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the ^(BD)words of God will be fulfilled. ¹⁸The woman whom you saw is ^(BE)the great city, which ^[m]reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Babylon Is Fallen

18 After these things I saw another ^(BF)angel ^(BG)coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was ^(BH)illuminated from his glory. ²And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “^[n]^(BI)Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She ^(BJ)has become a dwelling place of demons and a ^[o]prison of every ^(BK)unclean spirit, and a ^[p]prison of every unclean and hateful bird. ³For all the nations have fallen because of the ^(BL)wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and ^(BM)the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the ^(BN)merchants of the earth have become rich from the ^[q]excessive wealth of her ^[r]^(BO)luxury.”

⁴I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “^(BP)Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues; ⁵for her sins have ^[s]^(BQ)piled up as high as heaven, and God has ^(BR)remembered her offenses. ⁶^(BS)Pay her back even as she has paid, and ^[t]give back to her double according to her deeds; in the ^(BT)cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. ⁷^(BU)To the extent that she glorified herself and ^(BV)lived luxuriously, to the same extent give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘^(BW)I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ ⁸For this reason ^(BX)in one day her plagues will come, ^[u]plague and mourning and famine, and she will be ^(BY)burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her ^(BZ)is strong.

Grief over Babylon

⁹“And ^(CA)the kings of the earth, who committed acts of sexual immorality and ^(CB)lived luxuriously with her, will ^(CC)weep and mourn over her when they ^(CD)see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰^(CE)standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘^(CF)Woe, woe, ^(CG)the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in ^(CH)one hour your judgment has come.’

¹¹“And the ^(CI)merchants of the earth ^(CJ)weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— ¹²cargo of ^(CK)gold, silver, precious ^[v]stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; every kind of citron wood, every article of ivory, and every article made from very valuable wood, ^[w]bronze, iron, and marble; ¹³cinnamon, ^[x]spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, ^[y]slaves, and ^(CL)human lives. ¹⁴The fruit ^[z]you long for has left you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and people will no longer find them. ¹⁵The ^(CM)merchants of ^(CN)these things, who became rich from her, will ^(CO)stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶saying, ‘^(CP)Woe, woe, ^(CQ)the great city, she who ^(CR)was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and ^[aa]adorned with gold, precious ^[ab]stones, and pearls; ¹⁷for in ^(CS)one hour such great wealth has been laid ^(CT)waste!’ And ^(CU)every shipmaster and every ^[ac]passenger and sailor, and all who ^[ad]make their living by the sea, ^(CV)stood at a distance, ¹⁸and were ^(CW)crying out as they ^(CX)saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘^(CY)What city is like ^(CZ)the great city?’ ¹⁹And they threw ^(DA)dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘^(DB)Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea ^(DC)became rich from her prosperity, for in ^(DD)one hour she has been laid ^(DE)waste!’ ²⁰^(DF)Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you ^[ae]saints and ^(DG)apostles and prophets, because ^(DH)God has ^[af]pronounced judgment for you against her.”

²¹Then ^[ag]a ^(DI)strong angel ^(DJ)picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, ^(DK)the great city, be thrown down with violence, and ^(DL)will never be found again. ²²And ^(DM)the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again; and the ^(DN)sound of a mill will never be heard in you again; ²³and the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the ^(DO)voice of the groom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your ^(DP)merchants were the powerful people of the earth, because all the nations were deceived ^(DQ)by your witchcraft. ²⁴And in her was found the ^(DR)blood of prophets and of ^[ah]saints, and of ^(DS)all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

The Fourfold Hallelujah

19 After these things I heard something like a ^(DT)loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,

“^(DU)Hallelujah! ^(DV)Salvation, ^(DW)glory, and power belong to our God, ²^(DX)because His ^(DY)judgments are ^(DZ)true and righteous; for He has judged the ^(EA)great prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and He has ^(EB)avenged the blood of His bond-servants ^[ai]on her.” ³And a second time they said, “^(EC)Hallelujah! ^(ED)Her smoke rises forever and ever.” ⁴And the ^(EE)twenty-four elders and the ^(EF)four living creatures ^(EG)fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, “^(EH)Amen. ^(EI)Hallelujah!” ⁵And a voice came from the throne, saying,

“^(EJ)Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, ^(EK)you who fear Him, the small and the great.” ⁶Then I heard something like ^(EL)the voice of a great multitude and like ^(EM)the sound of many waters, and like the ^(EN)sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying,

“^(EO)Hallelujah! For the ^(EP)Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

Marriage of the Lamb

⁷Let’s rejoice and be glad and ^(EQ)give the glory to Him, because ^(ER)the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His ^[aj]^(ES)bride has prepared herself.” ⁸It was given to her to clothe herself in ^(ET)fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the ^(EU)righteous acts of the ^[ak]saints.

⁹Then ^(EV)he *said to me, “^(EW)Write: ‘^(EX)Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “^(EY)These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰Then ^(EZ)I fell at his feet to worship him. ^(FA)But he *said to me, “^[al]Do not do that; I am a ^(FB)fellow servant of yours and your brothers and sisters who ^(FC)hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Coming of Christ

¹¹And I saw ^(FD)heaven opened, and behold, a ^(FE)white horse, and He who sat on it is called ^(FF)Faithful and True, and in ^(FG)righteousness He judges and wages war. ¹²His ^(FH)eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many ^(FI)crowns; and He has a ^(FJ)name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. ¹³He is clothed with a ^(FK)robe dipped in blood, and His name is called ^(FL)The Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in ^(FM)fine linen, ^(FN)white and clean, were following Him on white horses. ¹⁵^(FO)From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that ^(FP)with it He may strike down the nations, and He will ^[am]^(FQ)rule them with a rod of iron; and ^(FR)He treads the ^[an]wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. ¹⁶And on His robe and on His thigh He has ^(FS)a name written: “^(FT)KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

¹⁷Then I saw ^[ao]an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to ^(FU)all the birds that fly in ^(FV)midheaven, “^(FW)Come, assemble for the great feast of God, ¹⁸so that you may ^(FX)eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, ^(FY)both free and slaves, and ^(FZ)small and great.”

¹⁹And I saw ^(GA)the beast and ^(GB)the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who ^(GC)sat on the horse, and against His army.

Doom of the Beast and False Prophet

²⁰And the beast was seized, and with him the ^(GD)false prophet who ^(GE)performed the signs ^[ap]^(GF)in his presence, by which he ^(GG)deceived those who had received the ^(GH)mark of the beast and those who ^(GI)worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the ^(GJ)lake of ^(GK)fire, which burns with ^[aq]brimstone. ²¹And the rest were killed with the sword which ^(GL)came from the mouth of Him who ^(GM)sat on the horse, and ^(GN)all the birds were filled with their flesh.