Revelation / The Fall of Babylon the Great and the Beast's Doom

The Fall of Babylon the Great and the Beast's Doom

Revelation 17:1-18:24

Chapter 17

¹ And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me, saying, "Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters." ² with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk from the wine of her sexual immorality. ³ He carried me away into a wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names, which had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. She had a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead a name written, "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth." ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk from the blood of the holy ones and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷ The 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 the ten horns." ⁸ The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to ascend from the abyss and go to destruction; and those who dwell on the earth will be amazed, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that it was and is not and will be present. ⁹ This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. And there are seven kings. ¹⁰ The five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a little while. ¹¹ And the beast that was and is not. It is the eighth, and is from the seven, and goes to Destruction. ¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. ¹³ These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These will war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and elect and faithful. ¹⁵ And he says to me, "The waters that you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues." ¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw and the beast—these will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For God put it into their hearts to do his purpose, and to do one purpose, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman whom you saw is the great city, the one having kingdom over the kings of the earth.

Chapter 18

¹ After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, having great divine authority, and the earth was illuminated by his divine glory. ² And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit and a prison of every unclean bird and a prison of every unclean and hated beast." ³ because from the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality all the nations have fallen, and the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the power of her luxury. ⁴ And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out, my people, out of her, so that you might not share in her sins, and so that you might not receive her plagues." ⁵ because her sins have reached up to heaven, and God has remembered her unrighteous deeds. ⁶ Repay her as she also repaid, and double the doubles according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix for her double. ⁷ As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her that much torment and mourning. Because in her heart she says, "I sit as a queen, and I am no widow, and I will by no means see mourning." ⁸ For this reason her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine—and she will be burned up with fire, because the strong Lord God has judged her. ⁹ And they will weep and beat their breasts over her, the kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived luxuriously, when they see the smoke of her fiery trial. ¹⁰ standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon the mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” ¹¹ And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any longer. ¹² cargo of gold and silver and precious stone and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every thyine wood and every ivory vessel and every vessel of most precious wood and bronze and iron and marble, ¹³ and cinnamon and amomum and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and horses and chariots and bodies and souls of humans. ¹⁴ And the fruit of your soul's desire has gone away from you, and all the fat things and the radiant things have perished from you, and they will not find them anymore. ¹⁵ The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand far off because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶ saying, “Woe, woe, the great city, the one arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and gilded with gold and precious stone and pearl! ¹⁷ because in one hour such great wealth was desolated. And every steersman and everyone sailing to a place, and sailors and all who work the sea, stood from afar. ¹⁸ And they cried out, seeing the smoke of her burning, saying, "Who is like the great city?" ¹⁹ And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city, in which all those having the ships in the sea grew rich from her preciousness, because in one hour she was desolated.” ²⁰ Rejoice over her, heaven, and the holy ones and the apostles and the prophets, because God has judged your judgment out of her. ²¹ And one mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “In this way with a rush Babylon the great city will be thrown, and it will not be found any longer.” ²² and the voice of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer, and every craftsman of every craft will not be found in you any longer, and the voice of a mill will not be heard in you any longer, ²³ and the light of a lamp will by no means shine in you any longer, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will by no means be heard in you any longer; because your merchants were the magnates of the earth, because in your sorcery all the nations were led astray, ²⁴ And in her was found the blood of prophets and holy ones and of all the ones slaughtered upon the earth.