1One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here! I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters. 2The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” 3He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored beast [which was] full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth.2608 5And on her forehead a name was written, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I was filled with great amazement. 7The angel asked me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8The beast you saw was, and is not; and it is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast: that he was, and is not, and [yet] will come.2609 9This calls for a mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10They are seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must remain for a little while. 11The beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth [king]. He belongs to the seven and goes to destruction. 12The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings, along with the beast, for one hour. 13They have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14They will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings;2610 and those with him are called elect2611 and faithful.” 15The angel said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. 16The ten horns which you saw, and2612 the beast, they will hate the prostitute and make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and will burn her completely with fire. 17For God has put it in their hearts to do what he has in mind, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished. 18The woman whom you saw is the great city,2613 which reigns over the kings of the earth.”2614
The fall of Babylon
- CT and TR read “the impurities of her sexual immorality”
- TR reads “and yet is”
- Compare 2 Maccabees 13:4; 3 Maccabees 5:35 (The title “King of kings” does not appear as a title for God in the Hebrew Old Testament. Instead, it is used of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7.12) and Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 26:7 and Daniel 2:37). See also 1 Timothy 6:15-16
- Or “chosen”
- TR reads “and saw on the beast”
- Compare 11:18
- Compare Deuteronomy 15:6
Text: The Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible, New Testament (EOB). Used with permission.
