Revelation 17

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

1 Then a one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying 1 to me, "Come, b I will show you the judgment of c the great harlot d who sits on many waters, 2 e "with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and f the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication." 3 So he carried me away in the Spirit g into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting h on a scarlet beast which was full of i names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman j was arrayed in purple and scarlet, k and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, l having in her hand a golden cup m full of abominations and the filthiness of 2 her fornication. 5 And on her forehead a name was written:
n MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

6 I saw o the woman, drunk p with the blood of the saints and with the blood of q the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. 7 But the angel said to me, "Why did you marvel? I will tell you the 3 mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and r will ascend out of the bottomless pit and s go to 4 perdition. And those who t dwell on the earth u will marvel, v whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and 5 yet is. 9 w "Here is the mind which has wisdom: x The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 10 "There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must y continue a short time. 11 "The z beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to 6 perdition. 12 a "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 "These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 b "These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will c overcome them, d for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; e and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful."

15 Then he said to me, f "The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, g are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. 16 "And the ten horns which you 7 saw on the beast, h these will hate the harlot, make her i desolate j and naked, eat her flesh and k burn her with fire. 17 l "For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, m until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 "And the woman whom you saw n is that great city o which reigns over the kings of the earth."

  1. Cross References
    Colossians 3:24
    Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
  2. Cross References
    Luke 18:8
    "I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"
  3. Cross References
    Habakkuk 2:3
    For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.
    Habakkuk 2:4
    Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
    Hebrews 10:25
    Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
    Revelation 22:20
    He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
  4. Cross References
    Habakkuk 2:3
    For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.
    Habakkuk 2:4
    Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
    Romans 1:17
    For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith.
    Galatians 3:11
    But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith.
  5. Cross References
    2 Peter 2:20
    For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
  6. Cross References
    Acts 16:31
    So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.
  7. Cross References
    Romans 8:24
    For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
    2 Corinthians 4:18
    While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
    2 Corinthians 5:7
    For we walk by faith, not by sight.
    Hebrews 11:7
    By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
    Hebrews 11:27
    By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
  8. Cross References
    Genesis 1:1
    In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
    Psalms 33:6
    By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
    John 1:3
    All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
    2 Peter 3:5
    For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water.
  9. Cross References
    Genesis 4:3 - 5
    And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
    Matthew 23:35
    That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
    1 John 3:12
    Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous.
  10. Cross References
    Genesis 4:8 - 10
    Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
    Hebrews 12:24
    To Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
  11. Cross References
    Genesis 5:21 - 24
    Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.
  12. Cross References
    Genesis 6:13 - 22
    And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
  13. Cross References
    1 Peter 3:20
    Who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
  14. Cross References
    Romans 3:22
    Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference.
  15. Cross References
    Genesis 12:1 - 4
    Now the LORD had said to Abram: Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.
    Acts 7:2 - 4
    And he said, "Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran.
  16. Cross References
    Genesis 12:8
    And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
    Genesis 13:3
    And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai.
    Genesis 13:18
    Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.
    Genesis 18:1
    Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.
    Genesis 18:9
    Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" So he said, "Here, in the tent.
  17. Cross References
    Hebrews 6:17
    Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath.
  18. Cross References
    Hebrews 12:22
    But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels.
    Hebrews 13:14
    For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.
  19. Cross References
    Revelation 21:10
    And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
  20. Cross References
    Genesis 17:19
    Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
    Genesis 18:11 - 14
    Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
    Genesis 21:1
    And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken.
    Genesis 21:2
    For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
  21. Cross References
    Luke 1:36
    Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
  22. Cross References
    Hebrews 10:23
    Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
  23. Cross References
    Romans 4:19
    And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb.
  24. Cross References
    Genesis 15:5
    Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be.
    Genesis 22:17
    Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
    Genesis 32:12
    "For You said, 'I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude."'
  25. Cross References
    Hebrews 11:39
    And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise.
  26. Cross References
    Genesis 12:7
    Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
  27. Cross References
    John 8:56
    "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
    Hebrews 11:27
    By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
  28. Cross References
    Genesis 23:4
    "I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give...
    Genesis 47:9
    And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the yea...
    1 Chronicles 29:15
    For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, As w...
    Psalms 39:12
    Hear my prayer, O LORD, And give ear to my cry;...
    Ephesians 2:19
    Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and...
    1 Peter 1:17
    And if you call on the Father, who without part...
    1 Peter 2:11
    Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, ...
  29. Cross References
    Hebrews 13:14
    For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.
  30. Cross References
    Genesis 11:31
    And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.
  31. Cross References
    Genesis 26:24
    And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham's sake.
    Genesis 28:13
    And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.
    Exodus 3:6
    Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
    Exodus 3:15
    Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.
    Exodus 4:5
    "that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
  32. Cross References
    John 14:2
    In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
    Hebrews 11:10
    For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
    Revelation 21:2
    Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
  33. Cross References
    Genesis 22:1 - 14
    Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am.
    James 2:21
    Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
  34. Cross References
    Genesis 21:12
    But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.
    Romans 9:7
    Nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called.
  35. Cross References
    Romans 4:17
    (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed - God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.
  36. Cross References
    Genesis 27:26 - 40
    Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near now and kiss me, my son.
  37. Cross References
    Genesis 48:1
    Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, "Indeed your father is sick"; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
    Genesis 48:5
    And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
    Genesis 48:16
    The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
    Genesis 48:20
    So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will bless, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!' " And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
  38. Cross References
    Genesis 50:24
    And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
    Genesis 50:25
    Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.
    Exodus 13:19
    And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.
  39. Cross References
    Exodus 2:1 - 3
    And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi.
  40. Cross References
    Exodus 1:16
    And he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.
    Exodus 1:22
    So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.
  41. Cross References
    Exodus 2:11 - 15
    Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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