1 AND one of the seven angels having the seven bowls came and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,
2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 And he bore me away into the wilderness in the Spirit. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, [the beast] full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the impurities of the fornication of the earth,
5 and on her forehead the names inscribed, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and I wondered when I saw her with 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 which carries her, having the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast which you saw was and is not, and is about to come up from the abyss, and goes to destruction; and those who live on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder, when they see the beast that he was and is not and is to come.
9 Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits,
10 and are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes must continue a short time.
11 And the beast which was and is not, he also is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes to destruction.
12 And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which have not yet received a kingdom, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one will, and give their power and their authority to the beast.
14 They shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall conquer them,??or he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.
15 And he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which you saw and the beast shall hate the harlot, and make her desolate and naked, and eat her flesh, and burn her with fire;
17 for God has put it into their hearts to do his will and to have one will and give their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God are finished.
18 And the woman which you saw is the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.