And there came one of the angels having the seven bowls, and he spoke with me saying to me,
“Come here, and I’ll show you the judgement of the great harlot who is sitting on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have fornicated, and the ones living on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
And so he carried me away in the spirit to a desert, and I saw a woman sitting on a red beast, full of names of blasphemy and having seven heads and ten horns, and the woman clothed in purple and red and gilded with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness of her fornication, and on her forehead a name written: “MYSTERY: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH!”
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, and I wondered, having seen her, with great astonishment.
And the angel said to me,
“Why did you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast which is carrying her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast which you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction, and the ones living on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the founding of the world, will be astonished, seeing the beast which was and is not, and yet is.
“Here is the mind which has wisdom: the seven heads are seven hills on which the woman is sitting. And there are seven kings: five have fallen and one is, the other hasn’t yet come, and when he has come he must stay a little while.
“And the beast which was and is not, even he is eighth, and he is of the seven and he is going into perdition. And the ten horns, which you saw, are ten kings who haven’t yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority like kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind and they’ll give up their power and their authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will defeat them, because he’s Lord of lords and King of kings, and the ones with him, called, and chosen, and faithful.”
And he says to me,
“The waters which you saw, where the harlot is sitting, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God gave to their hearts to do his mind, and to do one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God will be fulfilled. And the woman you saw is the great city, the one reigning over the kings of the earth.
