Revelation 16-18

New American Standard Bible

The Bowls of Wrath

16 Then I heard a loud voice from ^(A)the ^[a]temple, saying to the ^(B)seven angels, “Go and ^(C)pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

² So the first angel went and poured out his bowl ^(D)on the earth; and a harmful and painful ^(E)sore ^[b]afflicted the people ^(F)who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

³ The second angel poured out his bowl ^(G)into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living ^[c]thing in the sea died.

⁴ Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the ^(H)rivers and the springs of waters; and they ^(I)became blood. ⁵ And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “^(J)Righteous are You, ^(K)the One who is and who was, O ^(L)Holy One, because You ^(M)judged these things; ⁶ for they poured out ^(N)the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them ^(O)blood to drink. They ^[d]deserve it.” ⁷ And I heard ^(P)the altar saying, “Yes, ^(Q)Lord God, the Almighty, ^(R)true and righteous are Your judgments.”

⁸ And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon ^(S)the sun, ^(T)and it was given power to scorch people with fire. ⁹ And the people were scorched with ^[e]fierce heat; and they ^(U)blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they ^(V)did not repent so as to ^(W)give Him glory.

¹⁰ And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the ^(X)throne of the beast, and his kingdom became ^(Y)darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, ¹¹ and they ^(Z)blasphemed the ^(AA)God of heaven because of their pain and their ^(AB)sores; and they ^(AC)did not repent of their deeds.

¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the ^(AD)great river, the Euphrates; and ^(AE)its water was dried up, so that ^(AF)the way would be prepared for the kings ^(AG)from the ^[f]east.

Har-Magedon (Armageddon)

¹³ And I saw coming out of the mouth of the ^(AH)dragon, and out of the mouth of the ^(AI)beast, and out of the mouth of the ^(AJ)false prophet, three ^(AK)unclean spirits like ^(AL)frogs; ¹⁴ for they are ^(AM)spirits of demons, ^(AN)performing signs, which go out to the kings of the ^(AO)entire ^[g]world, to ^(AP)gather them together for the war of the ^(AQ)great day of God, the Almighty. ¹⁵ (“Behold, ^(AR)I am coming like a thief. ^(AS)Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, ^(AT)so that he will not walk about naked and people will not see his shame.”) ¹⁶ And they ^(AU)gathered them together to the place which ^(AV)in Hebrew is called ^(AW)Har-Magedon.

The Seventh Bowl of Wrath

¹⁷ Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon ^(AX)the air, and a ^(AY)loud voice came out of the ^[h](AZ)temple from the throne, saying, “^(BA)It is done.” ¹⁸ And there were flashes of ^(BB)lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was ^(BC)a great earthquake, ^(BD)such as there had not been since mankind came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. ^19 (BE)The great city ^[i]was split into three parts, and the cities of the ^[j]nations fell. ^(BF)Babylon the great was ^(BG)remembered in the sight of God, to give her ^(BH)the cup of the wine of ^[k]His fierce wrath. ²⁰ And ^(BI)every island fled, and no mountains were found. ²¹ And ^(BJ)huge ^[l]hailstones, weighing about ^[m]a talent each, *came down from heaven upon people; and people ^(BK)blasphemed God because of the ^(BL)plague of the hail, because ^[n]the hailstone plague *was extremely ^[o]severe.

The Doom of Babylon

17 ^(BM)Then one of the ^(BN)seven angels who had the ^(BO)seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you ^(BP)the judgment of the ^(BQ)great prostitute who ^(BR)sits on many waters, ² with whom ^(BS)the kings of the earth committed acts of sexual immorality, and ^(BT)those who live on the earth ^(BU)became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³ And ^(BV)he carried me away ^[p](BW)in the Spirit ^(BX)into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a ^(BY)scarlet beast, full of ^(BZ)blasphemous names, having ^(CA)seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(CB)was clothed in purple and scarlet, and ^[q]adorned with gold, precious ^[r]stones, and pearls, holding in her hand ^(CC)a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality, ⁵ and on her forehead a name was written, ^[s]a ^(CD)mystery: “^(CE)BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF ^(CF)THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with ^(CG)the blood of the ^[t]saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered ^[u]greatly. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why ^[v]do you wonder? I will tell you the ^(CH)mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the ^(CI)seven heads and the ten horns.

⁸ “^(CJ)The beast that you saw ^(CK)was, and is not, and is about to ^(CL)come up out of the ^(CM)abyss and ^[w](CN)go to destruction. And ^(CO)those who live on the earth, ^(CP)whose names have not been written in the book of life ^(CQ)from the foundation of the world, will ^(CR)wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will ^[x]come. ^9 (CS)Here is the mind which has wisdom. The ^(CT)seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits, ¹⁰ and they are seven ^(CU)kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. ¹¹ The beast which ^(CV)was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he ^(CW)goes to destruction. ¹² The ^(CX)ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast ^(CY)for one hour. ¹³ These have ^(CZ)one ^[y]purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.

Victory for the Lamb

¹⁴ These will wage ^(DA)war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will ^(DB)overcome them because He is ^(DC)Lord of lords and ^(DD)King of kings; and ^(DE)those who are with Him are the ^(DF)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And he *said to me, “The ^(DG)waters which you saw where the prostitute sits are ^(DH)peoples and multitudes, and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ^(DI)ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her ^(DJ)desolate and ^(DK)naked, and will ^(DL)eat her flesh and will ^(DM)burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For ^(DN)God has put it in their hearts to execute His ^[z]purpose ^[aa]by ^(DO)having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the ^(DP)words of God will be fulfilled. ¹⁸ The woman whom you saw is ^(DQ)the great city, which ^[ab]reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Babylon Is Fallen

18 After these things I saw another ^(DR)angel ^(DS)coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was ^(DT)illuminated from his glory. ² And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “^[ac](DU)Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She ^(DV)has become a dwelling place of demons and a ^[ad]prison of every ^(DW)unclean spirit, and a ^[ae]prison of every unclean and hateful bird. ³ For all the nations have fallen because of the ^(DX)wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and ^(DY)the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the ^(DZ)merchants of the earth have become rich from the ^[af]excessive wealth of her ^[ag](EA)luxury.”

⁴ I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “^(EB)Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues; ⁵ for her sins have ^[ah](EC)piled up as high as heaven, and God has ^(ED)remembered her offenses. ^6 (EE)Pay her back even as she has paid, and ^[ai]give back to her double according to her deeds; in the ^(EF)cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. ^7 (EG)To the extent that she glorified herself and ^(EH)lived luxuriously, to the same extent give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘^(EI)I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ ⁸ For this reason ^(EJ)in one day her plagues will come, ^[aj]plague and mourning and famine, and she will be ^(EK)burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her ^(EL)is strong.

Grief over Babylon

⁹ “And ^(EM)the kings of the earth, who committed acts of sexual immorality and ^(EN)lived luxuriously with her, will ^(EO)weep and mourn over her when they ^(EP)see the smoke of her burning, ^10 (EQ)standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘^(ER)Woe, woe, ^(ES)the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in ^(ET)one hour your judgment has come.’

¹¹ “And the ^(EU)merchants of the earth ^(EV)weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— ¹² cargo of ^(EW)gold, silver, precious ^[ak]stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; every kind of citron wood, every article of ivory, and every article made from very valuable wood, ^[al]bronze, iron, and marble; ¹³ cinnamon, ^[am]spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, ^[an]slaves, and ^(EX)human lives. ¹⁴ The fruit ^[ao]you long for has left you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and people will no longer find them. ¹⁵ The ^(EY)merchants of ^(EZ)these things, who became rich from her, will ^(FA)stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶ saying, ‘^(FB)Woe, woe, ^(FC)the great city, she who ^(FD)was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and ^[ap]adorned with gold, precious ^[aq]stones, and pearls; ¹⁷ for in ^(FE)one hour such great wealth has been laid ^(FF)waste!’ And ^(FG)every shipmaster and every ^[ar]passenger and sailor, and all who ^[as]make their living by the sea, ^(FH)stood at a distance, ¹⁸ and were ^(FI)crying out as they ^(FJ)saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘^(FK)What city is like ^(FL)the great city?’ ¹⁹ And they threw ^(FM)dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘^(FN)Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea ^(FO)became rich from her prosperity, for in ^(FP)one hour she has been laid ^(FQ)waste!’ ^20 (FR)Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you ^[at]saints and ^(FS)apostles and prophets, because ^(FT)God has ^[au]pronounced judgment for you against her.”

²¹ Then ^[av]a ^(FU)strong angel ^(FV)picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, ^(FW)the great city, be thrown down with violence, and ^(FX)will never be found again. ²² And ^(FY)the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again; and the ^(FZ)sound of a mill will never be heard in you again; ²³ and the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the ^(GA)voice of the groom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your ^(GB)merchants were the powerful people of the earth, because all the nations were deceived ^(GC)by your witchcraft. ²⁴ And in her was found the ^(GD)blood of prophets and of ^[aw]saints, and of ^(GE)all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”