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The Bowls of God's Anger

16 From the temple I heard a voice shout to the seven angels, “Go and empty the seven bowls of God's anger on the earth.”

(A) The first angel emptied his bowl on the earth. At once ugly and painful sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and worshiped the idol.

The second angel emptied his bowl on the sea. At once the sea turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.

(B) The third angel emptied his bowl into the rivers and streams. At once they turned to blood. Then I heard the angel, who has power over water, say,

“You have always been,
and you always will be
    the holy God.
You had the right
    to judge in this way.
They poured out the blood[a]
of your people
    and your prophets.
So you gave them blood
    to drink as they deserve!”
After this, I heard
    the altar shout,
“Yes, Lord God All-Powerful,
your judgments are honest
    and fair.”

The fourth angel emptied his bowl on the sun, and it began to scorch people like fire. Everyone was scorched by its great heat, and all of them cursed the name of God who had power over these terrible troubles. But no one turned to God and praised him.

10 (C) The fifth angel emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast. At once darkness covered its kingdom, and its people began biting their tongues in pain. 11 And because of their painful sores, they cursed the God who rules in heaven. But still they did not stop doing evil things.

12 (D) The sixth angel emptied his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it completely dried up to make a road for the kings from the east. 13 An evil spirit that looked like a frog came out of the mouth of the dragon. One also came out of the mouth of the beast, and another out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 These evil spirits had the power to work miracles. They went to every king on earth, to bring them together for a war against God All-Powerful. But that will be the day of God's great victory.

15 (E) Remember Christ says, “When I come, it will surprise you like a thief! But God will bless you, if you are awake and ready. Then you won't have to walk around naked and be ashamed.”

16 (F) Those armies came together in a place that in Hebrew is called Armagedon.[b]

17 As soon as the seventh angel emptied his bowl in the air, a loud voice from the throne in the temple shouted, “It's done!” 18 (G) There were flashes of lightning, roars of thunder, and the worst earthquake in all history. 19 (H) The great city of Babylon split into three parts, and the cities of other nations fell. So God made Babylon drink from the wine cup filled with his anger. 20 (I) Every island ran away, and the mountains disappeared. 21 (J) Hailstones, weighing about 50 kilograms each, fell from the sky on people. Finally, the people cursed God, because the hail was so terrible.

The Prostitute and the Beast

17 (K) One of the seven angels who had emptied the bowls came over and said to me, “Come on! I will show you how God will punish that shameless prostitute who sits on many oceans. (L) Every king on earth has slept with her, and her shameless ways are like wine that has made everyone on earth drunk.”

(M) With the help of the Spirit, the angel took me into a desert, where I saw a woman sitting on a red beast. The beast was covered with names that were an insult to God, and it had seven heads and ten horns. (N) The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet robes, and she wore jewelry made of gold, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand she held a gold cup filled with the filthy and nasty things she had done. On her forehead a mysterious name was written:

I AM THE GREAT CITY OF BABYLON, THE MOTHER OF EVERY IMMORAL AND FILTHY THING ON EARTH.

I could tell that the woman was drunk on the blood of God's people who had given their lives for Jesus. This surprising sight amazed me, and the angel said:

Why are you so amazed? I will explain the mystery about this woman and about the beast she is sitting on, with its seven heads and ten horns. (O) The beast you saw is one that used to be and no longer is. It will come back from the deep pit, but only to be destroyed. Everyone on earth whose names were not written in the book of life[c] before the time of creation will be amazed. They will see this beast that used to be and no longer is, but will be once more.

Anyone with wisdom can figure this out. The seven heads that the woman is sitting on stand for seven hills. These heads are also seven kings. 10 Five of the kings are dead. One is ruling now, and the other one has not yet come. But when he does, he will rule for only a little while.

11 You also saw a beast that used to be and no longer is. That beast is one of the seven kings who will return as the eighth king, but only to be destroyed.

12 (P) The ten horns you saw are ten more kings, who have not yet come into power, and they will rule with the beast for only a short time. 13 They all think alike and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 (Q) These kings will go to war against the Lamb. But he will defeat them, because he is Lord over all lords and King over all kings. His followers are chosen and special and faithful.

15 The oceans you saw the prostitute sitting on are crowds of people from all races and languages. 16 The ten horns and the beast will start hating the shameless woman. They will strip off her clothes and leave her naked. Then they will eat her flesh and throw the rest of her body into a fire. 17 God is the one who made these kings all think alike and decide to give their power to the beast. And they will do this until what God has said comes true.

18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over all kings on earth.

The Fall of Babylon

18 I saw another angel come from heaven. This one had great power, and the earth was bright because of his glory. (R) The angel shouted,

“Fallen! Powerful Babylon
    has fallen
and is now the home
    of demons.
It is the den
    of every filthy spirit
and of all unclean birds,
and every dirty
    and hated animal.
(S) Babylon's evil and immoral wine
    has made all nations drunk.
Every king on earth
    has slept with her,
and every merchant on earth
is rich because of
    her evil desires.”

(T) Then I heard another voice
    from heaven shout,
“My people, you must escape
    from Babylon.
Don't take part in her sins
    and share her punishment.
(U) Her sins are piled
    as high as heaven.
God has remembered the evil
    she has done.
(V) Treat her as she
    has treated others.
Make her pay double
    for what she has done.
Make her drink twice as much
of what she mixed
    for others.
(W) That woman honored herself
    with a life of luxury.
Reward her now
    with suffering and pain.

“Deep in her heart
Babylon said,
    ‘I am the queen!
Never will I be a widow
or know what it means
    to be sad.’
And so, in a single day
she will suffer the pain
    of sorrow, hunger, and death.
Fire will destroy
    her dead body,
because her judge
    is the powerful Lord God.”

(X) Every king on earth who slept with her and shared in her luxury will mourn. They will weep, when they see the smoke from that fire. 10 Her sufferings will frighten them, and they will stand at a distance and say,

“Pity that great
    and powerful city!
Pity Babylon!
In a single hour
    her judgment has come.”

11 (Y) Every merchant on earth will mourn, because there is no one to buy their goods. 12 (Z) There won't be anyone to buy their gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, sweet-smelling wood, fancy carvings of ivory and wood, as well as things made of bronze, iron, or marble. 13 No one will buy their cinnamon, spices, incense, myrrh, frankincense,[d] wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, slaves, and other humans.

14 Babylon, the things
    your heart desired
have all escaped
    from you.
Every luxury
and all your glory
    will be lost forever.
You will never
    get them back.

15 (AA) The merchants had become rich because of her. But when they saw her sufferings, they were terrified. They stood at a distance, crying and mourning. 16 Then they shouted,

“Pity the great city
    of Babylon!
She dressed in fine linen
and wore purple
    and scarlet cloth.
She had jewelry
    made of gold
and precious stones
    and pearls.
17 (AB) Yet in a single hour
    her riches disappeared.”

Every ship captain and passenger and sailor stood at a distance, together with everyone who does business by traveling on the sea. 18 (AC) When they saw the smoke from her fire, they shouted, “This was the greatest city ever!”

19 (AD) They cried loudly, and in their sorrow they threw dust on their heads, as they said,

“Pity the great city
    of Babylon!
Everyone who sailed the seas
became rich
    from her treasures.
But in a single hour
    the city was destroyed.
20 (AE) The heavens should be happy
with God's people
    and apostles and prophets.
God has punished her
    for them.”

21 (AF) A powerful angel then picked up a huge stone and threw it into the sea. The angel said,

“This is how the great city
    of Babylon
will be thrown down,
    never to rise again.
22 (AG)(AH) The music of harps and singers
and of flutes and trumpets
    will no longer be heard.
No workers will ever
    set up shop in that city,
and the sound
of grinding grain
    will be silenced forever.
23 Lamps will no longer shine
    anywhere in Babylon,
and couples will never again
    say wedding vows there.
Her merchants ruled
    the earth,
and by her witchcraft
    she fooled all nations.
24 (AI) On the streets of Babylon
is found the blood
    of God's people
    and of his prophets,
    and everyone else.”

Footnotes

  1. 16.6 They poured out the blood: A way of saying, “They murdered.”
  2. 16.16 Armagedon: The Hebrew form of the name would be “Har Megiddo,” meaning “Hill of Megiddo,” where many battles were fought in ancient times (see Judges 5.19; 2 Kings 23.29,30).
  3. 17.8 book of life: See the note at 3.5.
  4. 18.13 myrrh, frankincense: Myrrh was a valuable sweet-smelling powder often used in perfume. Frankincense was a valuable powder that was burned to make a sweet smell.

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