¹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven vials came and spoke with me and said, “Come here, I will show you the judgment on the great whore who sits on much water, ²with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, while the inhabitants of the earth became drunk with the wine of her fornication.” ³And he carried me away into the desert in the spirit, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, the beast being full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴Now the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, gilded with gold and precious gemstones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and the unclean things of her fornication, ⁵and on her forehead a name was written:

“Mystery, Babylon the Great,

The Mother of the Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth.”

⁶And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus, and I marvelled with great wonder as I saw her. ⁷Then the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast who is carrying her, who has the seven heads and the ten horns. ⁸The beast whom you saw was, but is not, but is about to ascend out of the abyss and go away to destruction. And those dwelling on the earth will marvel, those whose names have not been written in the book of life since the overthrow of the world, when they see that the beast was, and is not, but will be present. ⁹Here is understanding comprising wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits, ¹⁰and they are seven kings. Five have fallen, one is in existence, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must remain for a short time. ¹¹And the beast who was, but is not, is himself both the eighth, and yet is of the seven, and he will go away to destruction. ¹²And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received their kingdom, but who will receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. ¹³These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴These will wage war on the lamb, but the lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and elect and faithful.” ¹⁵And he said to me, “The water which you saw, where the whore sits, is peoples and populations and nations and tongues. ¹⁶And as for the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the whore and make her desolate and make her naked, and they will eat her flesh and burn her up with fire. ¹⁷For God has put it in their hearts to carry out his purpose, and to make them unanimous, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸And the woman whom you saw is the great city which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth.”

Reference(s) in Chapter 17: v.3 ↔ Daniel 7:19-20 ● v.7 ↔ Daniel 7:19-20 ● v.8 ↔ Psalm 69:29^MT (Psalm 69:28^AV); Daniel 12:1, Exodus 32:32 ● v.12 ↔ Daniel 7:20 ● v.16 ↔ Daniel 7:20.