Skip to the text

Revelation · Bible in Basic English

Revelation 17 Bible in Basic English

Leer en español
About BBE
  • Scholarly edition
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew (not verified)
  • NT: Critical text (not verified)
  • Protestant (66 books)
  • Simplified language
  • 1965
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

1 And one of the seven angels who had the seven vessels came and said to me, Come here, so that you may see the judging of the evil woman who is seated on the great waters; 2 With whom the kings of the earth made themselves unclean, and those who are on the earth were full of the wine of her evil desires. 3 And he took me away in the Spirit into a waste land: and I saw a woman seated on a bright red beast, full of evil names, having seven heads and ten horns, 4 And the woman was clothed in purple and bright red, with ornaments of gold and stones of great price and jewels; and in her hand was a gold cup full of evil things and her unclean desires; 5 And on her brow was a name, SECRET, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE EVIL WOMEN AND OF THE UNCLEAN THINGS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman overcome as with the wine of the blood of the saints, and the blood of those put to death because of Jesus. And when I saw her, I was overcome with a great wonder. 7 And the angel said to me, Why were you surprised? I will make clear to you the secret of the woman, and of the beast on which she is seated, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast which you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the great deep, and to go into destruction. And those who are on the earth, whose names have not been put in the book of life from the first, will be full of wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and still will be. 9 Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman is seated: 10 And they are seven kings; the five have come to an end, the one is, the other has not come; and when he comes, he will have to go on for a little time. 11 And the beast which was, and is not, is himself the eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes into destruction. 12 And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which still have been given no kingdom; but they are given authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. 13 These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast. 14 These will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with him are named, marked out, and true. 15 And he said to me, The waters which you saw, where the evil woman is seated, are peoples, and armies, and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will be turned against the evil woman, and will make her waste and uncovered, and will take her flesh for food, and will have her burned with fire. 17 Because God has put it in their hearts to do his purpose, and to be of one mind, giving their kingdom to the beast, till the words of God have effect and are complete. 18 And the woman whom you saw is the great town, which is ruling over the kings of the earth.

Cross references (17)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Revelation 19:2; Revelation 17:1–17; Jeremiah 51:13; Revelation 16:19; Revelation 21:9
  2. 2 Revelation 14:8; Jeremiah 51:7; Revelation 18:3; Revelation 18:9; Revelation 18:23
  3. 3 Revelation 12:3; Revelation 13:1–6; Revelation 17:9–12; Revelation 17:18; Revelation 17:6–7
  4. 4 Jeremiah 51:7; Revelation 18:16; Revelation 19:2; Revelation 18:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–10
  5. 5 Revelation 18:2; Revelation 14:8; Revelation 17:7; Revelation 16:19; Isaiah 3:9
  6. 6 Revelation 16:6; Revelation 13:15; Revelation 2:13; Daniel 7:25; Revelation 12:11
  7. 7 Revelation 17:1–6; Revelation 17:8
  8. 8 Revelation 11:7; Revelation 17:11; Revelation 3:10; Revelation 9:1–2; Revelation 19:15–21
  9. 9 Revelation 13:18; Revelation 17:7; Daniel 12:4; Daniel 12:8–10; Matthew 24:15
  10. 11 Revelation 17:8
  11. 12 Revelation 12:3; Revelation 13:1; Zechariah 1:18–21; Daniel 7:24; Revelation 17:16
  12. 13 Revelation 17:17; Ezekiel 38:10; Philippians 1:27; Philippians 2:2; Isaiah 10:5–7
  13. 14 Romans 8:30; 1 Timothy 6:15; Matthew 22:14; Revelation 3:21; Deuteronomy 10:17
  14. 15 Revelation 17:1; Jeremiah 51:13; Jeremiah 51:55; Isaiah 8:7–8; Psalm 65:7
  15. 16 Revelation 18:8; Ezekiel 16:37–44; Leviticus 21:9; Jeremiah 50:41–42; Revelation 18:16–17
  16. 17 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12; 2 Corinthians 8:16; Proverbs 21:1; Revelation 10:7; Ezra 7:27
  17. 18 Revelation 16:19; Revelation 18:2; Daniel 7:23; Daniel 2:40–41

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Quotes verse 17:15 Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John (Chapter IV — 1-18)

    For that peoples are signified under the name of waters the Apocalypse of John clearly indicates to us, where, after he had been shown many waters, and he had asked what they were, was answered that they were peoples. That water, then--namely, that people--was shut in by the five books of Moses, as by five porches.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)