Revelation 17
The Great Prostitute and the Beast
Then aone of the seven angels who had bthe seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of cthe great prostitute dwho is seated on many waters, 2 awith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and bwith the wine of whose sexual immorality cthe dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And ahe carried me away in the Spirit binto a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ca scarlet beast that was full of dblasphemous names, and eit had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman awas arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned bwith gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ca golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of amystery: b“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk awith the blood of the saints, the blood of bthe martyrs of Jesus.
When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you athe mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw awas, and is not, and bis about to rise from cthe bottomless pit and dgo to destruction. And ethe dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in fthe book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ait was and is not and is to come. 9 aThis calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast athat was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And athe ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings bfor 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 awill make war on the Lamb, and bthe Lamb will conquer them, for he is cLord of lords and cKing of kings, and those with him are dcalled and chosen and faithful.”
15 And the angel said to me, a“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And athe ten horns that you saw, they and the beast bwill hate the prostitute. They will make her cdesolate and dnaked, and edevour her flesh and fburn her up with fire, 17 for aGod has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and bhanding over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is athe great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.