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Revelation 17

1One of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and the inhabitants of the earth became drunk from the wine of her sexual immorality.” 3He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, with seven heads and ten horns. 4The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. 5On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.” 6I saw the woman drunk from the blood of the holy ones and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly amazed.

7The angel said to me, “Why were you amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8The beast you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the abyss, and it goes to destruction. Those who live on the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was, and is not, and will be present.

9“Here is the understanding that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings: 10five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a little while. 11The beast that was and is not is itself an eighth and is from the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. 13They have one purpose and give their power and authority to the beast. 14They will wage war against 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 chosen and faithful.”

15He says to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples and crowds and nations and languages. 16The ten horns you saw, and the beast, will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire. 17For God put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose, to have one purpose and to give their kingdom to the beast until God's words are completed. 18The woman you saw is the great city that has kingship over the kings of the earth.”

Translation notes 3

17:1–6, 18 — Woman and city. The text itself identifies the woman as a ruling city. Rome is the strongest immediate historical association, especially with the seven mountains, but “Babylon” remains the stated name and its symbolism is not exhausted by a substituted label. The sexual and violent imagery is retained. “A mystery” is treated as John's description of the name; it could be read as part of the inscription.

17:8–11 — Beast and kings. The beast's “was, and is not” language echoes and distorts the divine formula. Proposals for counting the kings depend on disputed starting points and interpretations. No list of emperors is inserted. The draft begins a new sentence with the beast in verse 11. The base's unusual punctuation instead links the beast to the preceding statement about remaining briefly. No Greek words are added or removed by this different sentence division.

17:12–17 — Purpose and destruction. The brief shared rule and the enemies' common purpose are explicit. Verse 16 includes the beast among those who destroy the woman. Verse 17 attributes the fulfillment of God's purpose to their actions without explaining away their hostility or constructing a theory of divine causation.