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The Great Prostitute and the Beast

¹ Then ^(a)one of the seven angels who had ^(b)the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of ^(c)the great prostitute ^(d)who is seated on many waters, ^2 (e)with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^(f)with the wine of whose sexual immorality ^(g)the dwellers on earth have become drunk." ³ And ^(h)he carried me away in the Spirit ⁽ⁱ⁾into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^(j)a scarlet beast that was full of ^(k)blasphemous names, and ^(l)it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(m)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ⁽ⁿ⁾with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^(o)a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of ^(p)mystery: ^(q)"Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations." ⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk ^(r)with the blood of the saints, the blood of ^(s)the martyrs of Jesus.^[a]

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, "Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^(t)the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw ^(u)was, and is not, and ^(v)is about to rise from ^(w)the bottomless pit^[b] and ^(x)go to destruction. And ^(y)the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^(z)the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^(aa)it was and is not and is to come. ^9 (ab)This 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 ^(ac)that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. ¹² And ^(ad)the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings ^(ae)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 ^(af)will make war on the Lamb, and ^(ag)the Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^(ah)Lord of lords and ^(ai)King of kings, and those with him are ^(aj)called and chosen and faithful."

¹⁵ And the angel^[c] said to me, ^(ak)"The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And ^(al)the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast ^(am)will hate the prostitute. They will make her ^(an)desolate and ^(ao)naked, and ^(ap)devour her flesh and ^(aq)burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for ^(ar)God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and ^(as)handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is ^(at)the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth."