The Woman and the Beast

17 ^(A)Then one of the ^(B)seven angels who have the ^(C)seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you ^(D)the judgment of the ^(E)great harlot who ^(F)sits on many waters, ² with whom ^(G)the kings of the earth committed ^[a]sexual immorality, and ^(H)those who dwell on the earth were ^(I)made drunk with the wine of her ^[b]sexual immorality.” ³ And ^(J)he carried me away ^[c](K)in the Spirit ^(L)into a wilderness; then I saw a woman sitting on a ^(M)scarlet beast, full of ^(N)blasphemous names, having ^(O)seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman ^(P)was clothed in purple and scarlet, and ^[d]adorned with gold and precious ^[e]stones and pearls, having in her hand ^(Q)a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her ^[f]sexual immorality, ⁵ and on her forehead a name was written, a ^(R)mystery, “^(S)BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF ^(T)THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” ⁶ Then I saw the woman drunk with ^(U)the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered ^[g]greatly. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why ^[h]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 ^[i](AB)go to destruction. And ^(AC)those who dwell on the earth, ^(AD)whose name has 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 come. ^9 (AG)Here is the mind which has wisdom. The ^(AH)seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, ¹⁰ and 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. ¹¹ And the beast which ^(AJ)was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he ^(AK)goes to destruction. ¹² And the ^(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. ¹³ These have ^(AN)one ^[j]purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These 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 elect and faithful.”

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