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 pit¹ 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 angel² 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.”