1 And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying to me, Come hither; I will show to thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed lewd deeds, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her lewdness. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet-color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her lewdness: 5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 7 And the angel said to me, Why didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest, was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9 And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short time. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength to the beast. 14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful. 15 And he saith to me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and languages. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18 And the woman whom thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Revelation · Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Revelation 17 Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (17)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Revelation 19:2; Revelation 17:1–17; Jeremiah 51:13; Revelation 16:19; Revelation 21:9
- 2 Revelation 14:8; Jeremiah 51:7; Revelation 18:3; Revelation 18:9; Revelation 18:23
- 3 Revelation 12:3; Revelation 13:1–6; Revelation 17:9–12; Revelation 17:18; Revelation 17:6–7
- 4 Jeremiah 51:7; Revelation 18:16; Revelation 19:2; Revelation 18:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–10
- 5 Revelation 18:2; Revelation 14:8; Revelation 17:7; Revelation 16:19; Isaiah 3:9
- 6 Revelation 16:6; Revelation 13:15; Revelation 2:13; Daniel 7:25; Revelation 12:11
- 7 Revelation 17:1–6; Revelation 17:8
- 8 Revelation 11:7; Revelation 17:11; Revelation 3:10; Revelation 9:1–2; Revelation 19:15–21
- 9 Revelation 13:18; Revelation 17:7; Daniel 12:4; Daniel 12:8–10; Matthew 24:15
- 11 Revelation 17:8
- 12 Revelation 12:3; Revelation 13:1; Zechariah 1:18–21; Daniel 7:24; Revelation 17:16
- 13 Revelation 17:17; Ezekiel 38:10; Philippians 1:27; Philippians 2:2; Isaiah 10:5–7
- 14 Romans 8:30; 1 Timothy 6:15; Matthew 22:14; Revelation 3:21; Deuteronomy 10:17
- 15 Revelation 17:1; Jeremiah 51:13; Jeremiah 51:55; Isaiah 8:7–8; Psalm 65:7
- 16 Revelation 18:8; Ezekiel 16:37–44; Leviticus 21:9; Jeremiah 50:41–42; Revelation 18:16–17
- 17 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12; 2 Corinthians 8:16; Proverbs 21:1; Revelation 10:7; Ezra 7:27
- 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).
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)