The angel also said to me [John], “The waters you saw, on which the prostitute is sitting, are people, crowds, nations, and languages.   

      
         The ten horns and the beast you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her abandoned and naked. They will eat her flesh and burn her up in a fire. 

             God has made them do what He wants them to do. So they will give their kingdom to the beast until God’s words are carried out. 

The woman you saw is the important city which dominates the kings of the earth.”

The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet started to rule. They will receive authority to rule as kings with the beast for one hour. 

        They have one purpose that's to give their power and authority to the beast. They will go to war against the lamb. The lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful are with him.

In this situation a wise mind is needed. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is sitting. There are also seven kings. 

      Five of them have fallen, one is ruling now, and the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must remain for a little while. 

           The beast that was and is no longer is the eighth king. It belongs with the seven kings and goes to its destruction.

You [John] saw the beast which once was, is no longer, and will come from the bottomless pit and go to its destruction. 

       Those living on earth, whose names were not written in the Book of Life when the world was created, will be surprised when they see the beast because it was, is no longer, and will come again.

I [John] saw a woman sitting on a bright red beast covered with insulting names. It had seven heads and ten horns. The woman wore purple clothes, bright red clothes, gold jewelry, gems, and pearls. In her hand she was holding a gold cup filled with detestable and evil things from her fornications. A name was written on her forehead. The name was Mystery: Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Detestable Things of the Earth. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people and of those who testify about Jesus. I was very surprised when I saw her.

       The angel asked me, “Why are you surprised? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and the beast with the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her.

One of the seven angels who held the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of that notorious prostitute who sits on raging waters. 

       The kings of the earth lusting for her on earth became drunk on the wine of her fornications.” 

              Then the angel carried me by his power into the wilderness.

The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air. 

        A loud voice came from the throne in the temple, and said, “It has happened!” 

             There was lightning, noise, thunder, and a powerful earthquake. There has never been such a powerful earthquake since humans have been on earth. 

                    The important city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered to give Babylon the Great the cup of wine from his fierce anger. 

 

Every island vanished, and the mountains could no longer be seen. Large, heavy hailstones fell from the sky on people. The people cursed God because the plague of hail was such a terrible plague.

The spirits gathered the kings at the place which is called Armageddon in Hebrew.

“See, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains alert and doesn’t lose his clothes. He will not have to go naked and let others see his shame.”

The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great Euphrates River. The water in the river dried up to make a road for the kings from the east.

      Then I [John] saw three evil spirits like frogs come out of the mouths of the serpent, the beast, and the false prophet.  They are spirits of demons that do miracles. These spirits go to the kings of the whole world and gather them for the war on the frightening day of God Almighty.

The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast. Its kingdom turned dark. 

      People gnawed on their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pains and their sores. However, they would not stop what they were doing.

The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun. The sun was allowed to burn people with fire. They were severely burned. 

       They cursed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues. They would not change the way they think and act and give Him glory.

The third angel poured his bowl over the rivers and the springs. They turned into blood. Then I heard the angel of the water say,

    “You are fair. You are the one who is and the one who was, the holy one, because you have judged these things.
      You have given them blood to drink because they have poured out the blood of God’s people and prophets.
      This is what they deserve.”

           Then I heard the altar answer,
    “Yes, Lord God Almighty, your judgments are true and fair.”

The second angel poured his bowl over the sea. The sea turned into blood like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.

The first angel poured his bowl over the earth. Horrible, painful sores appeared on the people who had the brand of the beast and worshiped its statue.

I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Pour the seven bowls of God’s anger over the earth.”

After these things I looked, and I saw that the temple of the tent containing the words of God’s promise was open in heaven. 

       The seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the temple wearing clean, shining linen with gold belts around their waists. 

            One of the four living creatures gave seven gold bowls full of the anger of God, who lives forever and ever, to the seven angels. 

 The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and his power. No one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels came to an end.

Then I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. Those who had won the victory over the beast, its statue, and the number of its name were standing on the glassy sea. They were holding God’s harps and singing the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the lamb. They sang,
    “The things you do are spectacular and amazing, Lord God Almighty.
      The way you do them is fair and true, King of the Nations.
      Lord, who won’t fear and praise your name?
You are the only holy one, and all the nations will come to worship you because they know about your fair judgments.”

I [John] saw another sign in heaven. It was spectacular and amazing. 

       There were seven angels with the last seven plagues which are the final expression of God’s anger.

Another angel came out of the temple in heaven. He, too, had a sharp sickle. 

       Yet another angel came from the altar with authority over fire. This angel called out in a loud voice to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sickle, and gather the bunches of grapes from the vine of the earth, because those grapes are ripe.” 

            The angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered the grapes from the vine of the earth. He threw them into the winepress of God’s anger. The grapes were trampled in the winepress outside the city. Blood flowed out of the winepress as high as a horse’s bridle for 1,600 stadia.

Then I [John] looked, and there was a white cloud, and on the cloud sat someone who was like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 

       Another angel came out of the temple. He cried out in a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Swing your sickle, and gather the harvest. The time has come to gather it, because the harvest on the earth is overripe.”

             The one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the harvesting of the earth was completed.

I [John] heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: From now on those who die believing in the Lord are blessed.”

         “Yes,” says the Spirit. “Let them rest from their hard work. What they have done goes with them.”

Another angel, a third one, followed them, and said in a loud voice, “Whoever worships the beast or its statue, whoever is branded on his forehead or his hand, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured unmixed into the cup of God’s anger. Then he will be tortured by fiery sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb. 

       The smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast or its statue, or for anyone branded with its name.”  In this situation God’s holy people, who obey his commands and keep their faith in Jesus, need endurance.