The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

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

2 And I saw what appeared to be a ^ysea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had ^zconquered the beast and its image and ^athe number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing ^bthe song of Moses, the servant of God, and ^cthe song of the Lamb, saying,

5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the ⁱtent² of witness in heaven ^jwas opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, ^kwith golden sashes around their chests. 7 And one of the ^lfour living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, 8 and the sanctuary ^mwas filled with ⁿsmoke from the glory of God and from his power, and ^ono 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 the seven ^pangels, “Go and pour out on the earth 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 ^qsores came upon the people who bore ^rthe mark of the beast and ^sworshiped its image.

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

4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters¹ say,

7 And I heard the ^yaltar saying,

8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed² the name of God who had power over these plagues. They ^adid not repent and give him glory.

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

12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, ^dand its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of ^ethe dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of ^fthe false prophet, three unclean spirits like ^gfrogs. 14 For they are demonic spirits, ^hperforming signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to ⁱassemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming ^jlike a thief! Blessed is the one who ^kstays awake, ^lkeeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a ^mloud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, ⁿ“It is done!” 18 And there were ^oflashes of lightning, rumblings,³ peals of thunder, and a ^pgreat earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 ^qThe great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and ^rGod remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the ^scup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And ^tevery island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great ^uhailstones, about one hundred pounds⁴ each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the ^vplague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

The Great Prostitute and the Beast

17 Then one of the ^wseven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the ^xgreat prostitute ^ywho is seated on many waters, 2 ^zwith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the ^awine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he ^bcarried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of ^cblasphemous names, and it had ^dseven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed ^ein purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a ^fgolden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her ^gforehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, ^hdrunk with the ⁱblood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.¹

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 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 ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw ^jwas, and is not, and is about to ^krise from the bottomless pit² and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the ^lbook of life from the foundation of the world will ^mmarvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. 9 ⁿThis 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 that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And ^othe ten horns that you saw are ten ^pkings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings 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 will make war on the ^qLamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is ^rLord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

15 And the angel³ said to me, “The waters that you saw, ^swhere the prostitute is seated, are ^tpeoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is ^uthe great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

The Fall of Babylon

18 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, ^vand 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 ^jAnd the kings of the earth, ^kwho committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

11 And 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.²

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

^mAnd all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,

19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and ^othrew it into the sea, saying,

Rejoicing in Heaven

19 After this I heard what seemed to be the ^vloud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

3 Once more they cried out,

4 And the ^ctwenty-four elders and the ^dfour living creatures ^efell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, ^f“Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, ^jlike the roar of many waters and ^klike the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

9 And the angel said¹ to me, ^o“Write this: ^pBlessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, ^q“These are the true words of God.” 10 Then ^rI fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is ^sthe spirit of prophecy.

The Rider on a White Horse

11 Then I saw ^theaven opened, and behold, a ^uwhite horse! The one sitting on it is called ^vFaithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 ^wHis eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written ^xthat no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe ^ydipped in² blood, and the name by which he is called is ^zThe Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 ^aFrom his mouth comes a sharp sword ^bwith which to strike down the nations, and ^che will rule³ them ^dwith a rod of iron. He will ^etread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, ^fKing of kings and Lord of lords.

17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice ^ghe called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 ^hto eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave,⁴ both small and great.” 19 And I saw ⁱthe beast and the kings of the earth with their armies ^jgathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it ^kthe false prophet ^lwho in its presence⁵ had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who ^mworshiped its image. ⁿThese two were thrown alive into the ^olake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.