Revelation 13-18

English Standard Version

The First Beast

13 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, ^(A)with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and ^(B)blasphemous names on its heads. ² And the beast that I saw was ^(C)like a leopard; its feet were like ^(D)a bear's, and its mouth was like ^(E)a lion's mouth. And to it ^(F)the dragon gave his power and ^(G)his throne and great authority. ³ One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and ^(H)the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. ⁴ And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ^(I)“Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

⁵ And the beast was given ^(J)a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for ^(K)forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,^[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ Also it was allowed ^(L)to make war on the saints and to conquer them.^[b] And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, ⁸ and all ^(M)who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in ^(N)the book of life of ^(O)the Lamb ^(P)who was slain. ^9 (Q)If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

^(T)Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

The Second Beast

¹¹ Then ^(U)I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. ¹² It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence,^[c] and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, ^(V)whose mortal wound was healed. ^13 (W)It performs great signs, even ^(X)making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, ¹⁴ and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of^[d] the beast ^(Y)it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast ^(Z)that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not ^(AA)worship the image of the beast ^(AB)to be slain. ¹⁶ Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{[e] (AC)}to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, ¹⁷ so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, ^(AD)the name of the beast or ^(AE)the number of its name. ^18 (AF)This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number ^(AG)of a man, and his number is 666.^[f]

The Lamb and the 144,000

14 Then I looked, and behold, on ^(AH)Mount Zion ^(AI)stood the Lamb, and with him ^(AJ)144,000 who ^(AK)had his name and his Father's name written ^(AL)on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven ^(AM)like the roar of many waters and ^(AN)like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of ^(AO)harpists playing on their harps, ³ and they were singing ^(AP)a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. ^(AQ)No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for ^(AR)they are virgins. It is these ^(AS)who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as ^(AT)firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵ and ^(AU)in their mouth no lie was found, for they are ^(AV)blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

⁶ Then I saw another angel ^(AW)flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to ^(AX)those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. ⁷ And he said with a loud voice, ^(AY)“Fear God and ^(AZ)give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and ^(BA)worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the ^(BB)springs of water.”

⁸ Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ^(BC)“Fallen, fallen is ^(BD)Babylon the great, ^(BE)she who made all nations drink ^(BF)the wine of the passion^[g] of her sexual immorality.”

⁹ And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone ^(BG)worships the beast and its image and receives ^(BH)a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink ^(BI)the wine of God's wrath, ^(BJ)poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and ^(BK)he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹ And ^(BL)the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and ^(BM)they have no rest, day or night, these ^(BN)worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

^12 (BO)Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who ^(BP)keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.^[h]

¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ^(BQ)Blessed are the dead ^(BR)who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, ^(BS)“that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

¹⁴ Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one ^(BT)like a son of man, ^(BU)with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ And another angel ^(BV)came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, ^(BW)“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for ^(BX)the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

¹⁷ Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ And another angel came out from the altar, ^(BY)the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, ^(BZ)for its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great ^(CA)winepress of the wrath of God. ²⁰ And ^(CB)the winepress was trodden ^(CC)outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as ^(CD)a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.^[i]

The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

15 Then ^(CE)I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, ^(CF)seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.

² And I saw ^(CG)what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those ^(CH)who had conquered the beast and its image and ^(CI)the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass ^(CJ)with harps of God in their hands. ³ And they sing ^(CK)the song of Moses, ^(CL)the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

⁵ After this I looked, and ^(CR)the sanctuary of ^(CS)the tent^[k] of witness in heaven was opened, ⁶ and out of the sanctuary came ^(CT)the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright ^(CU)linen, ^(CV)with golden sashes around their chests. ⁷ And one of ^(CW)the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven ^(CX)golden bowls full of the wrath of God ^(CY)who lives forever and ever, ⁸ and ^(CZ)the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and ^(DA)no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling ^(DB)the seven angels, “Go and ^(DC)pour out on the earth ^(DD)the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

² So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful ^(DE)sores came upon the people who bore ^(DF)the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

³ The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and ^(DG)it became like the blood of a corpse, and ^(DH)every living thing died that was in the sea.

⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl into ^(DI)the rivers and the springs of water, and ^(DJ)they became blood. ⁵ And I heard the angel in charge of the waters^[l] say,

⁷ And I heard ^(DQ)the altar saying,

⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people ^(DS)with fire. ⁹ They were scorched by the fierce heat, and ^(DT)they cursed^[m] the name of God who had power over these plagues. ^(DU)They did not repent ^(DV)and give him glory.

¹⁰ The fifth angel poured out his bowl on ^(DW)the throne of the beast, and ^(DX)its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish ¹¹ and cursed ^(DY)the God of heaven for their pain and ^(DZ)sores. ^(EA)They did not repent of their deeds.

¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on ^(EB)the great river Euphrates, and ^(EC)its water was dried up, ^(ED)to prepare the way for the kings ^(EE)from the east. ¹³ And I saw, coming out of the mouth of ^(EF)the dragon and out of the mouth of ^(EG)the beast and out of the mouth of ^(EH)the false prophet, three ^(EI)unclean spirits like ^(EJ)frogs. ¹⁴ For they are ^(EK)demonic spirits, ^(EL)performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, ^(EM)to assemble them for battle on ^(EN)the great day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵ (“Behold, ^(EO)I am coming like a thief! ^(EP)Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, ^(EQ)that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) ¹⁶ And ^(ER)they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called ^(ES)Armageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into ^(ET)the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, ^(EU)“It is done!” ¹⁸ And there were ^(EV)flashes of lightning, rumblings,^[n] peals of thunder, and ^(EW)a great earthquake ^(EX)such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. ^19 (EY)The great city ^(EZ)was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God ^(FA)remembered ^(FB)Babylon the great, ^(FC)to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. ²⁰ And ^(FD)every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. ²¹ And ^(FE)great hailstones, about one hundred pounds^[o] each, fell from heaven on people; and ^(FF)they cursed God for ^(FG)the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17 Then ^(FH)one of the seven angels who had ^(FI)the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of ^(FJ)the great prostitute ^(FK)who is seated on many waters, ^2 (FL)with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and ^(FM)with the wine of whose sexual immorality ^(FN)the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” ³ And ^(FO)he carried me away in the Spirit ^(FP)into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ^(FQ)a scarlet beast that was full of ^(FR)blasphemous names, and ^(FS)it had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman ^(FT)was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned ^(FU)with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ^(FV)a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead was written a name of ^(FW)mystery: ^(FX)“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” ⁶ And I saw the woman, drunk ^(FY)with the blood of the saints, the blood of ^(FZ)the martyrs of Jesus.^[p]

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. ⁷ But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you ^(GA)the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw ^(GB)was, and is not, and ^(GC)is about to rise from ^(GD)the bottomless pit^[q] and ^(GE)go to destruction. And ^(GF)the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in ^(GG)the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because ^(GH)it was and is not and is to come. ^9 (GI)This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; ¹⁰ they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. ¹¹ As for the beast ^(GJ)that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. ¹² And ^(GK)the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings ^(GL)for one hour, together with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They ^(GM)will make war on the Lamb, and ^(GN)the Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^(GO)Lord of lords and ^(GP)King of kings, and those with him are ^(GQ)called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And the angel^[r] said to me, ^(GR)“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And ^(GS)the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast ^(GT)will hate the prostitute. They will make her ^(GU)desolate and ^(GV)naked, and ^(GW)devour her flesh and ^(GX)burn her up with fire, ¹⁷ for ^(GY)God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and ^(GZ)handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is ^(HA)the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

The Fall of Babylon

18 After this I saw ^(HB)another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and ^(HC)the earth was made bright with his glory. ² And he called out with a mighty voice,

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

⁹ And ^(HV)the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, ^(HW)will weep and wail over her ^(HX)when they see the smoke of her burning. ^10 (HY)They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

¹¹ And ^(IB)the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, ¹² cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, ¹³ cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.^[t]

^15 (IC)The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, ^(ID)will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

And ^(IH)all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off ¹⁸ and ^(II)cried out ^(IJ)as they saw the smoke of her burning,

¹⁹ And they threw ^(IL)dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

²¹ Then ^(IR)a mighty angel ^(IS)took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,