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The Book of Revelation 17

17 One of the seven angels who had the bowls came over to me. He said, “Come with me. I want to show you how God will punish the evil prostitute whom you saw sitting near a great river. 2 The kings of the earth have worshiped the idols she wanted them to worship. The people they rule have also worshiped those idols. It was as if they had gotten drunk on wine that she gave them.”

3 Then the Holy Spirit inspired me so that I could see and hear things in a vision. The angel carried me away to a desolate area. There I saw a woman who was riding on a red beast. The beast had written names all over itself. They were names that insulted God. The beast had seven heads and ten horns. 4 Now the woman was wearing purple and red clothes. She had gold jewelry with precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand. That cup was full of something to drink that stands for the awful things she does when she commits sexual immorality. 5 And there was a name in writing on her forehead. The name had a secret meaning. That name was: The Great Babylon, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Immoral Things in the World. 6 I saw that the woman had become drunk because she had drunk the blood of God’s people. Those people had suffered for proclaiming the truth about Jesus. When I saw her, that astonished me completely.

7 The angel said to me, “This should not astonish you. I will explain to you the hidden meaning of the woman and of the beast on which she rides. That beast has seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw lived previously. Now he is no longer alive. But he is about to come back up from the deep, dark pit. Eventually God will destroy him. But this beast will appear again after having lived previously and then dying. Seeing him will astonish the people on the earth whose names God did not write in the Book of Life before he created the world. 9 People need to think wisely to understand this: The seven heads of the beast that the woman is riding represent seven hills. Those are the seven hills of the city that the woman represents. The heads also represent seven rulers. 10 Five of those rulers have died. One is still alive. The seventh ruler has not yet come. And when he comes, he will rule for only a short time. 11 The beast that lived previously and then was not alive will be an eighth ruler. He is actually one of those seven rulers. God will certainly destroy him. 12 Now the ten horns that you saw represent ten rulers who have not yet begun to rule. But they will rule people together with the beast, though only for a short time. 13 Those rulers will all agree to do the same thing. As a result, they will give the beast their power to rule. 14 The rulers and the beast will fight against the Lamb. He will defeat them because he is the Lord who rules over all other lords and the King who rules over all other kings. The people who are with him are the ones whom God has chosen and called to himself and who keep serving him faithfully.” 15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw in the city where the prostitute sits represent a large number of people from many different backgrounds. 16 And the ten horns that you saw represent rulers. They and the beast will hate the prostitute. So they will plunder the city and leave nothing in it. Then they will destroy the city the way a wild animal devours another animal. They will burn down the city completely. 17 They will do that because God has caused them to decide to do what he wants them to do. As a result, they will all agree together to let the beast have their power to rule until God has accomplished what he said. 18 And the prostitute that you saw represents the very evil city whose leaders rule over the other rulers in the world.”

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