Revelation 17:1-6
The Doom of Babylon
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment and doom of the great (a)prostitute who is seated (b)on many waters [influencing nations],(A)
2 she with whom the kings of the earth have (c)committed acts of immorality, and the inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”(B)
3 And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was (d)entirely covered with blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.(C)
4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls, [and she was] holding in her hand a gold cup full of the abominations and the filth of her [sexual] immorality.(D)
5 And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES (false religions, heresies) AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints (God’s people), and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus [who were martyred]. When I saw her, I wondered in amazement.
Footnotes:
a.
Revelation 17:1: Some have thought that the prostitute symbolizes a corrupt, apostate religious system.
b.
Revelation 17:1: For the meaning of the waters in this prophetic context, see v 15.
c.
Revelation 17:2: This may be a figurative reference to cult worship practices and idolatry.
d.
Revelation 17:3: Lit full of.