CHAPTER 17
1 And one of the seven angels came, that had (the) seven vials, and spake with me, and said, Come thou, I shall show to thee the damnation of the great whore, that sitteth on many waters, (And one of the seven angels came, who had the seven basins, or the seven bowls, and spoke with me, and said, Come, and I shall show thee the damnation of the great whore, who sitteth above, or by, many waters,)
2 with which kings of the earth did fornication; and they that dwell in the earth be made drunk of the wine of her lechery. (with whom the kings of the earth did fornication or idolatry; and they who live on the earth be made drunk from the wine of her lechery.)
3 And he took me [away] into (a) desert in (the) Spirit. And I saw a woman sitting on a red beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads, and ten horns. (And he took me away by the Spirit to a desert. And I saw a woman sitting on a red beast, covered with names of blasphemy, and which had seven heads, and ten horns.)
4 And the woman was environed with purple, and red, and over-gilded with gold, and precious stone(s), and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand (or and had a gold cup in her hand), full of (the) abominations and (the) uncleanness of her fornication.
5 And a name (was) written in the forehead of her, Mystery, Babylon the great, (the) mother of fornications, and of (the) abominations of the earth. (And a name was written on her forehead, Mystery, the great Babylon, the mother of fornications, and of the abominations of the earth.)
6 And I saw a woman drunken of the blood of (the) saints, and of the blood of (the) martyrs of Jesus, (or And this woman I saw was made drunk from the blood of God’s people, and from the blood of the martyrs for Jesus). And when I saw her, I wondered with (a) great wondering.
7 And the angel said to me, Why wonderest thou? I shall say to thee the sacrament of the woman (or I shall tell thee the secret, or the mystery, of the woman), and of the beast that beareth her, that hath seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast which thou seest [or The beast which thou sawest], was, and is not; and she shall ascend up from [the] deepness, and she shall go into perishing. And men dwelling in earth shall wonder, whose names be not written in the book of life from the making of the world, seeing the beast, that was, and is not. (The beast which thou hast seen, was, and is not; and she shall go up from the depth, or from the abyss, and she shall go into perdition, or into destruction. And men living on the earth shall wonder, whose names be not written in the Book of Life from the beginning or the creation of the world, seeing the beast, that was, and is not.)
9 And this is the wit, (for) who that hath wisdom, (or And this is the understanding or the explanation, for he who hath wisdom). The seven heads be seven hills, on which the woman sitteth,
10 and kings seven be [or and (there) be seven kings]. Five have felled down, and one is, and another cometh not yet. And when he shall come, it behooveth him to dwell (only for) a short time.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, and she is the eighth, and is of the seven, and shall go into perishing. (And the beast that was, and is not, he is an eighth king, and yet is of the seven, and shall go into destruction, or into perdition.)
12 And the ten horns which thou hast seen, be ten kings, that yet have not taken kingdom; but they shall take power as kings, one hour after the beast. (And the ten horns which thou hast seen, be ten kings, who have not yet received their kingdoms; but they shall receive their power as kings, one hour after the beast.)
13 These have one counsel, and shall betake their virtue and power to the beast. (They shall be of one accord, and shall deliver their authority and power to the beast.)
14 These shall fight with the lamb, and the lamb shall overcome them; for he is (the) Lord of lords, and (the) King of kings; and they that be with him, be called, [and] chosen, and faithful.
15 And he said to me, The waters which thou hast seen, where the whore sitteth, be peoples, and folks, and languages, (or be peoples, and nations, and tongues).
16 And the ten horns that thou hast seen in the beast, these shall [hate the fornicary woman, or (the) whore, and shall] make her desolate and naked, and shall eat the fleshes of her, and shall burn (al)together her with fire [or and shall burn her (al)together with fire].
17 For God gave into the hearts of them, that they do that that is pleasant to him, [or Soothly God gave into the hearts of them, that they do that that is pleasant before him], (and) that they give their kingdom(s) to the beast, till the words of God be ended. (For God put into their hearts, that they do what is pleasing to him, and that they give their kingdoms to the beast, until God’s words be fulfilled.)
18 And the woman whom thou hast seen, is the great city, that hath kingdom on the kings of the earth (or that ruleth over the kings of the earth).