Revelation 17

The great prostitute and the beast

¹And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying: Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters,^•²with whom the kings of the earth prostituted themselves, and those who dwell on the earth became drunk with the wine of her prostitution.^•

³And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.^•⁴The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and of the impurities of her prostitution,^•⁵and on her forehead a name written: Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.^•⁶And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.^•

The mystery of the woman and of the beast

⁷Then 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.^•⁸The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss, and goes to destruction; and those who dwell on the earth, whose name is not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel when they see the beast, that it was, and is not, and will come.^•

⁹Here is the understanding that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman is seated. And they are seven kings:^•¹⁰five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.^•¹¹And the beast that was and is not, he also is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes to destruction.^•

¹²And 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.^•¹³These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.^•¹⁴These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.^•

¹⁵And he says to me: The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.^•¹⁶And the ten horns that you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute, and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn her with fire.^•¹⁷For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose, and to have one purpose, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.^•¹⁸And the woman that you saw is the great city that reigns over the kings of the earth.^•

Notes

17:1 “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls”: cf. 15:7; 21:9. “Come”: Gr. δεῦρο. “Judgment”: Gr. κρίμα (cf. 18:20; 20:4). “Prostitute”: Gr. πόρνη (cf. 17:15–16; 19:2). “Seated on many waters”: cf. 17:15; Jer 51:13 [LXX 28:13]. ↩
17:2 “Prostituted themselves”: Gr. πορνεύω (cf. 2:14, 20; 18:3, 9). “Became drunk with the wine of her prostitution”: cf. 14:8; 18:3; Jer 51:7 [LXX 28:7]. ↩
17:3 “Carried me away in the Spirit”: Gr. ἀπήνεγκέν με… ἐν πνεύματι (cf. 1:10; 4:2; 21:10; Ezek 3:12, 14). “Scarlet”: Gr. κόκκινος (cf. 17:4; 18:12, 16). “Names of blasphemy”: cf. 13:1, 5–6. “Seven heads and ten horns”: cf. 12:3; 13:1. ↩
17:4 “Clothed”: Gr. περιβάλλω (cf. 3:5). “Purple and scarlet”: cf. 18:16; Ex 28:5–6. “Adorned with gold”: lit. “gilded with gold”. “Golden cup”: cf. Jer 51:7 [LXX 28:7]. “Abominations”: Gr. βδελύγματα (cf. 17:5; 21:27; Dan 9:27; 11:31). “Impurities”: Gr. τὰ ἀκάθαρτα; the Textus Receptus reads “of the impurity”. ↩
17:5 “On her forehead a name written”: cf. 13:16; 14:1, 9; 22:4. “Mystery”: Gr. μυστήριον, part of the name or a description of it (cf. 17:7). “Babylon the great”: cf. 14:8; 16:19; 18:2; Dan 4:30 (Heb. 4:27). “The mother of the prostitutes”: cf. Ezek 16:44–45. ↩
17:6 “Drunk with the blood of the saints”: cf. 6:10; 16:6; 18:24. “Witnesses”: Gr. μάρτυρες (cf. 2:13; 11:3). “I marveled with great amazement”: Gr. ἐθαύμασα… θαῦμα μέγα, lit. “I marveled with a great marvel”. ↩
17:7 “Mystery”: cf. 1:20; 10:7. “Carries”: Gr. βαστάζω. ↩
17:8 “Was, and is not, and is about to come up”: cf. 1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:7. “Abyss”: cf. 9:1; 11:7. “Destruction”: Gr. ἀπώλεια (cf. 9:11). “Whose name is not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world”: cf. 13:8. “That it was”: Gr. ὅτι, object of “see”. “And will come”: Gr. καὶ παρέσται, from πάρειμι, lit. “and will be present”, not the verb ἔρχομαι of 1:4, 8; the Textus Receptus reads “and yet is”. Variants: the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus read “and to go to destruction” and “whose names”. ↩
17:9 “Here is the understanding”: cf. 13:18. “Seven mountains”: Gr. ὄρη. “And they are seven kings”: alternative reading: “and there are seven kings”; the Byzantine text and the Textus Receptus place the phrase in 17:10. ↩
17:10 “Have fallen”: Gr. ἔπεσαν. “A little while”: Gr. ὀλίγον. ↩
17:11 “Is the eighth, and is of the seven”: Gr. ὄγδοός ἐστιν καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἑπτά ἐστιν. “He also”: Gr. καὶ αὐτός, masculine, although “beast” (θηρίον) is neuter. “Is of the seven”: also “comes from the seven” or “is one of the seven”. ↩
17:12 “Ten horns… ten kings”: cf. 13:1; Dan 7:7, 20, 24. “One hour”: cf. 18:10, 17, 19. ↩
17:13 “One purpose”: Gr. μίαν γνώμην, lit. “one opinion”. ↩
17:14 “Will make war against the Lamb”: cf. 16:14; 19:19. “Lord of lords and King of kings”: cf. 19:16; Deut 10:17; Dan 2:47; 1 Tim 6:15. “And those who are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful”: the Greek has no verb; alternative reading: “and those with Him, called, and chosen, and faithful, will also conquer them” (cf. 2:10; 19:9, 14; Matt 22:14). “Lord of lords”: without articles in the Greek. ↩
17:15 “Peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”: cf. 5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 13:7; 14:6. ↩
17:16 “And the beast”: the Textus Receptus reads “that you saw upon the beast”. “Will hate the prostitute”: cf. Ezek 16:37–41; 23:25–29. “Will eat her flesh”: cf. 19:18; 2 Kgs 9:36. “Will burn her with fire”: cf. 18:8; Lev 21:9. ↩
17:17 “Has put it into their hearts”: Gr. ἔδωκεν εἰς τὰς καρδίας, lit. “gave into their hearts”. “Carry out”: Gr. ποιῆσαι, “do”. “His purpose”: Gr. αὐτοῦ, God’s. “Their kingdom”: Gr. αὐτῶν, that of the ten kings. “Purpose”: Gr. γνώμη (cf. 17:13). “Are fulfilled”: Gr. τελεσθήσονται (cf. 10:7; 15:1). “Words of God”: Gr. οἱ λόγοι τοῦ θεοῦ; the Textus Receptus reads τὰ ῥήματα. ↩
17:18 “The great city”: cf. 11:8; 16:19; 18:10. “That reigns”: Gr. ἡ ἔχουσα βασιλείαν, lit. “that has a kingdom”. ↩