The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling pthe seven angels, “Go and qpour out on the earth rthe 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 ssores came upon the people who bore tthe mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and uit became like the blood of a corpse, and vevery living thing died that was in the sea.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl into wthe rivers and the springs of water, and xthey became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters1 say,
y“Just are you, zO Holy One, awho is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
6 For bthey have shed the blood of csaints and prophets,
and dyou have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
7 And I heard ethe altar saying,
“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
ftrue and just are your judgments!”
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people gwith fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and hthey cursed2 the name of God who had power over these plagues. iThey did not repent jand give him glory.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on kthe throne of the beast, and lits kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed mthe God of heaven for their pain and nsores. oThey did not repent of their deeds.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on pthe great river Euphrates, and qits water was dried up, rto prepare the way for the kings sfrom the east. 13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of tthe dragon and out of the mouth of uthe beast and out of the mouth of vthe false prophet, three wunclean spirits like xfrogs. 14 For they are ydemonic spirits, zperforming signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, ato assemble them for battle on bthe great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, cI am coming like a thief! dBlessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, ethat he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And fthey assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called gArmageddon.
The Seventh Bowl
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into hthe air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, i“It is done!” 18 And there were jflashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, and ka great earthquake lsuch as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 mThe great city nwas split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God oremembered pBabylon the great, qto make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And revery island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And sgreat hailstones, about one hundred pounds4 each, fell from heaven on people; and tthey cursed God for uthe plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
The Great Prostitute and the Beast
1 Then vone of the seven angels who had wthe seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of xthe great prostitute ywho is seated on many waters, 2 zwith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and awith the wine of whose sexual immorality bthe dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And che carried me away in the Spirit dinto a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ea scarlet beast that was full of fblasphemous names, and git had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman hwas arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned iwith gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ja golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of kmystery: l“Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk mwith the blood of the saints, the blood of nthe martyrs of Jesus.5
When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you othe mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw pwas, and is not, and qis about to rise from rthe bottomless pit6 and sgo to destruction. And tthe dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in uthe book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because pit was and is not and is to come. 9 vThis 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 wthat was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And xthe ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings yfor 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 zwill make war on the Lamb, and athe Lamb will conquer them, for he is bLord of lords and bKing of kings, and those with him are ccalled and chosen and faithful.”
15 And the angel7 said to me, d“The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And ethe ten horns that you saw, they and the beast fwill hate the prostitute. They will make her gdesolate and hnaked, and idevour her flesh and jburn her up with fire, 17 for kGod has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and lhanding over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is mthe great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”
The Fall of Babylon
1 After this I saw nanother angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and othe earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,
p“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become qa dwelling place for demons,
a haunt rfor every unclean spirit,
a haunt sfor every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
3 For all nations have drunk8
tthe wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and uthe kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and vthe merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
w“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
5 for xher sins are heaped high as heaven,
and yGod has remembered her iniquities.
6 zPay her back as she herself has paid back others,
and repay her adouble for her deeds;
mix a double portion for her bin the cup she mixed.
7 cAs she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
d‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
and mourning I shall never see.’
8 For this reason her plagues will come ein a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and fshe will be burned up with fire;
for gmighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”
9 And hthe kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, iwill weep and wail over her jwhen they see the smoke of her burning. 10 kThey will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
“Alas! Alas! lYou great city,
you mighty city, Babylon!
For min a single hour your judgment has come.”
11 And nthe 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.9
14 “The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you,
never to be found again!”
15 oThe merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, pwill stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
16 “Alas, alas, for the great city
qthat was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
17 For rin a single hour all this wealth shas been laid waste.”
And tall shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and ucried out vas they saw the smoke of her burning,
w“What city was like the great city?”
19 And they threw xdust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,
“Alas, alas, for the great city
ywhere all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For zin a single hour she has been laid waste.
20 aRejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and bapostles and prophets,
for cGod has given judgment for you against her!”
21 Then da mighty angel etook up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
“So will Babylon fthe great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more;
22 and gthe sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
will be found in you no more,
and hthe sound of the mill
will be heard in you no more,
23 and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and ithe voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for jyour merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived kby your sorcery.
24 And lin her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of mall who have been slain on earth.”
The Words of King Lemuel
1 The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:
2 What are you doing, my son?1 What are you doing, fson of my womb?
What are you doing, gson of my vows?
3 Do hnot give your strength to women,
your ways to those iwho destroy kings.
4 jIt is not for kings, O Lemuel,
it is not for kings kto drink wine,
or for rulers to take lstrong drink,
5 lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
and mpervert the rights of all the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to the one who nis perishing,
and wine to othose in bitter distress;2
7 plet them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.
8 qOpen your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.3
9 Open your mouth, rjudge righteously,
The Woman Who Fears the Lord
10 4 uAn excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than vjewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She wseeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
15 She xrises while it is yet night
and yprovides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She zdresses herself5 with strength
and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She aopens her hand to bthe poor
and reaches out her hands to bthe needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in cscarlet.6
22 She makes dbed coverings for herself;
her clothing is efine linen and fpurple.
23 Her husband is known in gthe gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes hlinen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 iStrength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many jwomen have done kexcellently,
but you surpass them all.”
30 lCharm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
