Prostitute, Nicely Dressed, but Doomed
1Then one of the seven angels who helped dump the seven bowls of disaster on the world came over and talked to me. The angel said, “Come with me. I’ll show you the judgment waiting for that famous prostitute who controls a sea [1] of people.”2World rulers did despicable things with her. They got drunk on her immoral signature brand of wine. 3The angel carried my spirit [2] away with him to some badlands. There I saw a woman [3] sitting on a scarlet beast. The animal had seven heads and 10 horns and was covered with insults about God. [4]
4The woman wore expensive purple and scarlet clothes. She decked herself out in jewels, gold, and pearls. She held in her hand a gold cup full of the disgusting filth of her sins. 5She wore a mysterious name written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great—world’s most depraved prostitute and idol-worshiping pagan.” [5]
Drunk on Blood
6The sight of this woman shocked me. She was drunk. She had gotten drunk on the blood of God’s devoted people and on the blood of believers who had dared to defend Jesus.7The angel turned to me and said, “Why are you shocked by this? I’m going to explain what’s going on here. I’ll fill you in on the mystery behind this woman and the seven-headed, 10-horned beast she rides. 8You should know this about the beast you saw: It was alive. It’s dead now. But it’s coming back. It’s going to rise up out of the abyss of punishment. [6] But it’s going to get put down—destroyed. [7] People whose names have not been written in the Book of Life [8] since the beginning of the world [9] are in for a surprise. They will become mesmerized by this beast when they see that he has come back from the dead.
You Have to Use Your Head
9“It takes some savvy to figure this out. The seven heads of the beast represent the seven mountains [10] where the woman lives. They represent seven kings [11] too.10“Five kings have already been put down and destroyed. The sixth king is reigning now. There’s one more coming, but he won’t last long.
11“The beast, which is dead at the moment, is the eighth king. [12] Like the other seven, he is going to get put down and destroyed. 12The 10 horns you saw are 10 future kings. They’ll get to reign with the beast for a short time. 13These kings will rule together as allies under the authority of the beast. He’ll be the power that drives the coalition.
Ten Kings Vs. One Lamb
14“These kings will go to war against the Lamb. They’ll lose. The Lamb will conquer them. He’s the Boss of all bosses, the King of all kings. His devoted followers are with him. Every one he has picked. Every one he has invited.”15Then the angel told me, “The sea on which you saw the prostitute sitting represents the world’s people. They come from many nations and they speak many languages. 16The scarlet beast and the 10 future kings you saw as horns will turn on the prostitute. They’ll take everything away from her and strip her naked. They’ll eat her alive and burn the leftovers. [13]
17“It was God himself who convinced the 10 kings to combine forces and give all that power to the beast. God made sure they finished doing everything he wanted them to do. 18The woman you saw is the powerful city [14] that dominates kings all over the world.”
