Revelation 17 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

The Great Prostitute

Rev 17:1One 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.

Rev 17:2

Rev 17:2The 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.”

Rev 17:3

Rev 17:3So the angel took me in the Spirit[fn] 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.

Rev 17:4

Rev 17:4The 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.

Rev 17:5

Rev 17:5A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.”

Rev 17:6

Rev 17:6I 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.

Rev 17:7

Rev 17:7“Why are you so amazed?” the angel asked. “I will tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns on which she sits.

Rev 17:8

Rev 17:8The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit[fn] and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died.

Rev 17:9

Rev 17:9“This calls for a mind with understanding: The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills where the woman rules. They also represent seven kings.

Rev 17:10

Rev 17:10Five kings have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief.

Rev 17:11

Rev 17:11“The scarlet beast that was, but is no longer, is the eighth king. He is like the other seven, and he, too, is headed for destruction.

Rev 17:12

Rev 17:12The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast.

Rev 17:13

Rev 17:13They will all agree to give him their power and authority.

Rev 17:14

Rev 17:14Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”

Rev 17:15

Rev 17:15Then the angel said to me, “The waters where the prostitute is ruling represent masses of people of every nation and language.

Rev 17:16

Rev 17:16The scarlet beast and his ten horns all hate the prostitute. They will strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire.

Rev 17:17

Rev 17:17For God has put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes. They will agree to give their authority to the scarlet beast, and so the words of God will be fulfilled.

Rev 17:18

Rev 17:18And this woman you saw in your vision represents the great city that rules over the kings of the world.”

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(17:3)

Or in spirit.

(17:8)

Or the abyss, or the underworld.

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For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

Revelation Chapter 17 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Morphological Greek New Testament Textus Receptus Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Revelation 17 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

Revelation Chapter 17 — Additional Translations:

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