Book of Common Prayer
Babylon the Great
17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came over and spoke to me. “Come with me,” he said, “and I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits on many waters. 2 She is the one with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication; she is the one whose fornication has been the wine that has made all the earth-dwellers drunk.”
3 So he took me away, in the spirit, to the desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet monster. It was full of blasphemous names, and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was wearing purple and scarlet, and was decked out with gold, precious stones and pearls. In her hand she was holding a golden goblet, full of abominations and the impurities of her fornications. 5 On her forehead was written a name: “Mystery! Babylon the Great, Mother of Whores and of Earth’s Abominations!” 6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I was very greatly astonished.
7 “Why are you so astonished?” asked the angel. “I will explain to you the secret of the woman, and of the monster that is carrying her, the one which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The monster you saw was, and is not, and is due to come up from the Abyss and go to destruction. All the inhabitants of the earth will be amazed—all, that is, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world—when they see the monster that was and is not and is to come.
The monster and the whore
9 “This is a moment for a wise and discerning mind. The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman sits. And there are seven kings: 10 five have fallen, one is still there, and the other has not yet arrived—and when he does come he is destined to remain for only a short time. 11 And the monster, which was and is not, he is the eighth king. He is also one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. 12 The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received their kingdom, but will receive their authority as kings with the monster for a single hour. 13 All of these are of one mind: they give their power and authority to the monster. 14 They will make war with the lamb, and the lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those with him are called and chosen and faithful.
22 Jesus at once made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the opposite shore, while he dismissed the crowds.
Jesus walks on water
23 After he had sent the crowds away, Jesus went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came he was there by himself. 24 The boat had already gone some distance from the shore and was being smashed around by the waves, since the wind was against it.
25 At the very dead of night he came towards them, walking on the water. 26 The disciples saw him walking on the sea and panicked. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and they screamed in terror. 27 But Jesus at once spoke to them.
“Cheer up,” he said, “it’s me! Don’t be frightened!”
28 “If it’s really you, Master,” said Peter in reply, “give me the word to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come along, then,” said Jesus.
Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came towards Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind he was afraid, and began to sink.
“Master,” he yelled, “rescue me!”
31 Jesus at once reached out his hand and caught him.
“A fine lot of faith you’ve got!” he said. “Why did you doubt?”
32 They got into the boat, and the wind died down. 33 The people in the boat worshiped him.
“You really are God’s son!” they said.
34 So they crossed over to the land called Gennesaret. 35 The men of that region recognized him and sent word to all the surrounding district. They brought all their sick people to him, 36 and begged him to be allowed simply to touch the hem of his clothes. And everyone who touched it was cured.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.