Beginning

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.

¹⁵ “As for the waters you saw,” he continued, “where the whore was sitting, these are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶ The ten horns you saw, and the monster, will hate the whore and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and then burn her in the fire. ¹⁷ God has put it into their hearts to do his will and, with a single purpose, to give their kingdom to the monster, until God’s words are completed. ¹⁸ The woman which you saw is the great city that has royal dominion over the kings of the earth.”

Babylon’s plagues

18 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven with great authority; the earth was lit up with his glory. ² He shouted out in a strong voice, and this is what he said: “Babylon the great has fallen! She has fallen! She has become a place for demons to live, a refuge for every unclean spirit, a refuge for every unclean bird, a refuge for every unclean, hateful monster. ³ All the nations drank from the wine of the wrath of her fornication; the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the traders of the earth became rich from the power of her luxury.”

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven, and this is what it said: “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t become embroiled in her sins, and so that you don’t receive any of her plagues. ⁵ Her sins are piled up to the sky, and God has remembered her wickedness. ⁶ Pay her back as she has paid others; give her double again for all her deeds. Mix her a double dose in her own cup—the cup in which she mixed her poisons. ⁷ She made herself glorious and lived in luxury; balance that by giving her torture and sorrow! She said in her heart, ‘I’m the queen! I’m on the throne! I’m not a widow! I’m never going to be a mourner!’ ⁸ Therefore her plagues will come in a single day, death, mourning and famine, and she will be burned with fire, because God the Lord, her judge, is strong.”

Babylon’s judgment

⁹ The kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and shared her luxury will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke from her fire. ¹⁰ They will stand far off, fearful of her tortures. “Alas, alas,” they will say, “the great city! Babylon the powerful city! Your judgment has come in a single hour.” ¹¹ The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because nobody will buy their cargo anymore, ¹² their cargo of gold and silver, of precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, all the sweet-smelling wood, carved ivory, vessels of expensive wood, brass, iron, marble, ¹³ cinnamon, oriental spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots and bodies . . . yes, human lives.

¹⁴ All the fruit for which you longed has gone from you; all your luxuries and sparkling objects have been destroyed; you won’t find them anymore. ¹⁵ The merchants who sold these things, and who made themselves rich from her, will stand a long way off for fear of her tortures. They will weep and mourn, ¹⁶ and say, “Alas, alas! The great city! It was clothed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, decked out in gold, precious stones and pearls— ¹⁷ but in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!”

All the master mariners, all those who ply their ships to and fro, all sailors, and all who do business on the sea, stood a long way off ¹⁸ and shouted out when they saw the smoke of her fire. “Who is like the great city?” they said. ¹⁹ They threw dust on their heads and shouted out, weeping and mourning. “Alas, alas,” they said, “the great city! Everyone who had ships on the sea could get rich from her wealth, but in a single hour she has become a desert.”

²⁰ Celebrate over her, heaven, and you holy ones, apostles and prophets, because God has passed against her the sentence she passed against you.

²¹ Then a strong angel picked up a rock like a huge millstone and hurled it into the sea, with these words: “Babylon the great city will be thrown down like that with a splash, and will never be seen again! ²² Never again will people hear the sound of harps, musicians, flute players and trumpeters in you. Never again will there be any skilled workmen plying their trade in you. Never again will people hear the sound of the mill in you. ²³ Never again will anyone see the light of a lamp in you. Never again will anyone hear the voice of bridegroom and bride in you. Your merchants were the mighty ones of the earth; all the nations were deceived by your magic.”

²⁴ In her has been found the blood of prophets and God’s holy ones, and all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.

God’s victory

19 After this I heard something like a loud voice coming from a huge crowd in heaven. “Alleluia!” they were saying. “Salvation and glory and power belong to our God! ² His judgments are true and just! He has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged the blood of his servants for which she was responsible.” ³ Once more they said, “Alleluia! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”

⁴ Then the twenty-four elders and the four creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne. “Amen!” they said. “Alleluia!” ⁵ And a voice came from the throne: “Give praise to our God, all you his servants, and you who fear him, both small and great.” ⁶ Then I heard something like the sound of a great crowd, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of strong thunder, saying, “Alleluia! The Lord our God, the Almighty, has become king! ⁷ Let us celebrate and rejoice and give him the glory, because the marriage of the lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. ⁸ She has been given shining, pure linen to wear.” (The linen is the righteous deeds of God’s holy people.)

⁹ “Write this,” he said to me. “God’s blessing on those who are called to the marriage supper of the lamb.” And he added, “These words are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Look! Don’t do that! I am a fellow-servant with you, and with your brothers and sisters who hold on to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!” (The testimony of Jesus, you see, is the spirit of prophecy.)

The monster defeated

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. The one who was sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war justly. ¹² His eyes are like a flaming fire, and there are many coronets on his head. He has a name written there which nobody knows except himself. ¹³ He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and he is called by the name “God’s Word.” ¹⁴ The armies of heaven follow him on white horses, all wearing shining, pure linen. ¹⁵ A sharp two-edged sword is coming out of his mouth, so that with it he can strike down the nations. He will rule them with a rod of iron, and he will tread the winepress of the wine of the anger of the wrath of Almighty God. ¹⁶ On his robe, and on his thigh, is written a name: King of kings, and Lord of lords.

¹⁷ Then I saw a single angel standing in the sun, and shouting in a loud voice, calling to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven: “Come here! Gather round! This is God’s great feast! ¹⁸ Come and eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of generals, the flesh of the strong, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great!” ¹⁹ And I saw the monster and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered for war with the one who sits on the horse and with his army. ²⁰ And the monster was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs in its presence, with which it had deceived those who received the monster’s mark and those who worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with sulfur. ²¹ All the rest were killed by the sword which came out of the mouth of the one who was sitting on the horse. All the birds feasted on their flesh.