Apocalipse 17

¹ THEN came one of the seven angels that had the seven plagues and spoke with me. He said, "Come here. I will show you the doom of the great prostitute who sits on many waters

² and with whom the kings of the earth have committed lewdness, while the inhabitants of the earth have become drunk with the wine of her lewdness."

³ He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast covered with profane names, and with seven heads and ten horns.

⁴ The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She had in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her lewdness.

⁵ On her forehead was written a mysterious name: "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth."

⁶ I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the holy and with the blood of the witnesses for Jesus. When I saw her I wondered greatly.

⁷ The angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystic meaning of the woman and the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

⁸ The Beast which you saw was and is not and will soon come up out of the abyss and go into destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life will be amazed when they see the Beast that was and is not and will be.

⁹ Here is need for a mind that has wisdom. "The seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits.

¹⁰ Also they are seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he comes he must stay but a little while.

¹¹ The Beast which was and is not is also himself an eighth, yet is one of the seven, and will go into destruction.

¹² The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received kingly power, but they will receive power as kings for one hour with the Beast.

¹³ They have one mind and they give over their power and authority to the Beast.

¹⁴ They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings. They who are with him, called and chosen and faithful, will also conquer."

¹⁵ He said to me, "The waters that you saw where the prostitute was sitting are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.

¹⁶ The ten horns that you saw and the Beast '97 they hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked and they will devour her flesh and will burn her up with fire.

¹⁷ For God has put it in their hearts to carry out his purpose, which is that they shall carry out one purpose and give their royal power to the Beast until the words of God are fulfilled.

¹⁸ The woman that you saw is the great city that has kingly power over the kings of the earth."