Beginning

The Judgment of the Great Prostitute Babylon

17 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³ And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit,^[a] and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

And I was greatly astonished when I saw her^[b]. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is going to come up from the abyss, and he is going to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they^[c] see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present. ⁹ Here is the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits^[d] and they are seven kings. ¹⁰ Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and whenever he comes it is necessary for him to remain a short time. ¹¹ And the beast that was, and is not, is also himself an eighth, and is of the seven, and he is going to destruction. ¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. ¹³ These have one opinion, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and crowds and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For God put into their hearts to carry out his purpose and to make a unanimous decision^[e] and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.

Lament Over Babylon the Great

18 After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, who had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. ² And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,

⁴ And I heard another voice from heaven saying,

⁹ And the kings of the earth will weep and mourn over her, those who committed sexual immorality and lived sensually with her, when they see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰ standing far off^[h] because of the fear of her torment, saying,

¹¹ And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— ¹² cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble ¹³ and cinnamon and amomum^[i] and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and slaves^[j] and human lives.

¹⁵ The merchants of these things, who became rich from them, will stand far off^[l], weeping and mourning because of the fear of her torment, ¹⁶ saying,

And every shipmaster and every seafarer^[m] and sailors and all those who labor on the sea stood far off^{[n] 18} and began to cry out when they^[o] saw the smoke of her burning, saying, “Who is like the great city?” ¹⁹ And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,

²¹ And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

Rejoicing in Heaven

19 After these things I heard something like the loud sound of a great crowd in heaven saying,

³ And a second time they said,

And her smoke goes up forever and ever^[q]. ⁴ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying,

⁵ And a voice came out from the throne, saying,

The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb

⁶ And I heard something like the sound of a great crowd and something like the sound of many waters and something like the sound of powerful thunder, saying,

⁹ And he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet of the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” ¹⁰ And I fell down before his feet to worship him, and he said to me, “Do not do that!^[s] I am a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

The Warrior on the White Horse

¹¹ And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and the one seated on it was called “Faithful” and “True,” and with justice^[t] he judges and makes war. ¹² Now his eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many royal headbands having a name written that no one except he himself knows. ¹³ And he was dressed in an outer garment dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. ¹⁴ And the armies that are in heaven, dressed in clean, white fine linen, were following him on white horses. ¹⁵ And out of his mouth came a sharp sword, so that with it he could strike the nations. And he will shepherd them with an iron rod,^[u] and he stomps the winepress of the wine of the furious wrath of God, the All-Powerful. ¹⁶ And he has a name written on his outer garment and on his thigh: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

¹⁷ And I saw one angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly directly overhead^[v],

¹⁹ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with the one who is seated on the horse and with his army. ²⁰ And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs before him, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped his image. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. ²¹ And the rest were killed by the sword of the one who is seated on the horse—the sword that comes out of his mouth—and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.