Revelation 17

17 ¹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "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 with the wine of whose immorality the inhabitants of the earth grew drunk." ³ And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, with seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her immorality. ⁵ On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth."

⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I was utterly amazed.

⁷ But the angel said to me, "Why are you amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, the beast with the seven heads and the ten horns. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise up out of the abyss and go to its destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was, and is not, and yet will come.

⁹ This calls for a mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated. And they are seven kings: ¹⁰ five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain only a little while. ¹¹ As for the beast that was and is not, it is itself an eighth, yet it belongs to the seven, and it goes to its destruction. ¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.

¹⁴ They will wage war against 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 Then the angel said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute. They will leave her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For our Father has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose, to be of one mind and to hand over their kingdom to the beast, until the words of our Father are fulfilled. ^a a v17 Even rebellious kings serving the beast carry out our Father's purpose. He directs history toward the Lamb's victory. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is the great city that holds royal authority over the kings of the earth."