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¹ And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spoke with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute that sits on many waters;² with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and those that dwell in the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.³ And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.⁴ And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of detestable things, even the unclean things of her fornication,⁵ and on her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE DETESTABLE THINGS OF THE EARTH.⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.

⁷ And the angel said to me, Why did you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and goes into perdition. And those that dwell on the earth shall wonder, [they] whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come.⁹ Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits: and they are seven kings;¹⁰ the five have fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a little while.¹¹ And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes into perdition.¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.¹³ These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

¹⁴ These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they [also shall overcome] that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.¹⁵ And he says to me, The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.¹⁶ And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these shall hate the prostitute, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her completely with fire.¹⁷ For God put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.¹⁸ And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.