¹¹ He had built pagan shrines in the hill country of Judah and had led the people of Jerusalem and Judah to give themselves to pagan gods and to go astray.

⁵ I myself will turn against them and their families and will cut them off from the community. This will happen to all who commit spiritual prostitution by worshiping Molech.

⁷ On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem,^[a] he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.

⁷ The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols.^[a] This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation.

The Great Prostitute

17 One of the seven angels who had poured out the seven bowls came over and spoke to me. “Come with me,” he said, “and I will show you the judgment that is going to come on the great prostitute, who rules over many waters. ² The kings of the world have committed adultery with her, and the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality.”

³ So the angel took me in the Spirit^[a] into the wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, and blasphemies against God were written all over it. ⁴ The woman wore purple and scarlet clothing and beautiful jewelry made of gold and precious gems and pearls. In her hand she held a gold goblet full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality. ⁵ A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.” ⁶ I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement.

¹⁵ He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die.

¹⁶ He required everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. ¹⁷ And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.

¹⁵ I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments.^[a] But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?”

⁵ When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments,^[a] bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. ⁶ Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”