1One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me. He said to me, "Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits on many waters."
2"The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. The people who live on the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication."
3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. The beast was covered with names of blasphemy, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and she was decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. In her hand she had a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
5On her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great wonder.
7The angel said to me, "Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns."
8"The beast that you saw was, and is not. It will come up out of the bottomless pit and go into destruction. And those who live on the earth will wonder, those whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."
9"Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, and the woman sits on them."
10"And there are seven kings. Five have fallen, one is here now, and the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must stay only a short time."
11"And the beast that was, and is not, he himself is the eighth, and is one of the seven, and he goes into destruction."
12"The ten horns that you saw are ten kings. They have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive power as kings for one hour with the beast."
13"These have one mind, and they will give their power and strength to the beast."
14"These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. For he is Lord of lords, and King of kings. And those who are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
15And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and crowds, and nations, and languages."
16"And the ten horns that you saw on the beast, these will hate the whore. They will leave her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."
17"For God has put it in their hearts to carry out his will, and to agree, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled."
18"And the woman whom you saw is that great city, which rules over the kings of the earth."