The Great Prostitute and the Beast

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me,  “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters,  with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and  with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”  And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, and adorned with gold and jewels and pears, hiding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.  And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon  the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”  And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

When I saw her, I marveled greatly.  But the angel said to me,  “Why do you marvel?  I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and the ten horns that carries her.  The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction.  And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the  foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.  

The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath 

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

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

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it become like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.

The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they become blood.  And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say,

    “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,
        for you brought these judgments.
    For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
        And you have given them blood to drink.
    It is what they deserve!”

And I heard the alter saying,

    “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire.  They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues.  They did not repent and give him glory.

The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

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

And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire – and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.  And they  sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

        “Great and amazing are your deeds,
            O Lord God the Almighty!
        Just and true are your ways,
            O King of the nations!
        Who will not fear, O Lord,
            and glorify your name?
        For you alone are holy.
            All nations will come and worship you,
        for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

The Lamb and the 144,000

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.  And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder.  The voice I heard was like sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been  redeemed from the earth.  It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins.  It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.  These have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

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

The Woman and the Dragon

And a great sign appeared in the heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.  And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of the heaven  and cast them to the earth.  And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.  She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron,  but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,  and the women fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. 

Satan thrown Down to Earth

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon.  And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.  

The Two Witnesses

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple;  leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.  And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.  And if anyone harm them, this is how they are doomed to be killed.  They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain will fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have the power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 

The Angel and the Little Scroll

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.  He had a little scroll open in his hand.  And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land,  and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring.  When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.  And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice form heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”  

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth,  and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit,  and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.  Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  They were allowed to torment them for five months,  but not to kill them, and their was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.  And in those days people will seek death and will not find it.  They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle:  on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lion’s teeth; they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of may chariots with horses rushing into battle. 

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer  

When the lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God,  and seven trumpets were given to them.  And another angel came and stood at the alter with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.  Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Seven Trumpets

Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. 

The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth.  And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

The Seven Seals 

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder,  “Come!”  and I looked, and behold, a white horse!  And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”  and out came another horse, bright red.  Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!”  And I looked, and behold a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.  And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

The Scroll and the Lamb

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,  “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”  And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it,  and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.  And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns, and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.  And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.  

The Throne in Heaven

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven!  And the first voice which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”  At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.  And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.  Around the throne were 24 thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.  From the throne came flashes of lightening, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

To the Church in Sardis

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. 

“’I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent.  If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.   Yet you still have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.  The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.  I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Ephesus

“And to the angel of the church in Ephesus write:  “The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

“’I know your works, your toil and patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who  call themselves apostle and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.  But I have this against you,  that you have abandoned the lover you had at first.  Remember  therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.  If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.  Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ 

Prologue

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.  Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.