The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (292 page)

 
⁴
Who shall not fear and glorify your name, O Lord?

  
For you alone are holy.

  
All nations shall come and worship you,

  
for your judgments have been revealed."

5
 After this I looked, and
the temple
of the tent of witness in heaven was opened,
⁶
and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure
bright linen
, and with golden sashes across their chests.
⁷
And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels
seven golden bowls
full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever;
⁸
and the temple was
filled with smoke
from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.

The Bowls of God's Wrath

16
  
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."

2
 So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

3
 The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea.

4
 The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood.
⁵
And I heard the angel of water say,

  
"Just are you in these your judgments,

  
you who are and were
, O Holy One.

 
⁶
For men have shed the blood of
saints and prophets
,

  
and you have given them blood to drink.

  
It is their due!"

⁷
And I heard
the altar cry
,

  
"Yes, Lord God the Almighty,

  
true and just are your judgments!"

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

10
 The fifth angel poured his bowl on the
throne of the beast
, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish
¹¹
and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

12
 The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great
river Euphra'tes
, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
¹³
And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the
false prophet
, three foul spirits like frogs;
¹⁴
for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day
 
*
of God the Almighty.
¹⁵
("Behold, I am coming like a thief!
Blessed is he
who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!")
¹⁶
And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew
Armaged'don
.
 
*

17
 
The seventh angel poured his bowl
into the air, and a great voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
¹⁸
And there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake.
¹⁹
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath.
²⁰
And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found;
²¹
and great hailstones, heavy as a hundredweight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.

The Great Whore and the Beast

17
  
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
harlot
 
*
who is
seated
upon many waters,
²
with whom the kings of the earth have committed
fornication
, and with the wine of whose fornication
 
*
the dwellers on earth have become drunk."
³
And he carried me away
in the Spirit
into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
⁴
The woman was clothed in purple and
scarlet, and adorned with gold
and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication;
⁵
and on
her forehead
was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations."
⁶
And I saw the woman,
drunk with the blood
of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

When I saw her I marveled greatly.
⁷
But the angel said to me, "Why 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
was, and is not, and is to ascend
from the bottomless pit and go to perdition; 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 behold the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
⁹
This calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are
seven hills
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 comes 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 perdition.
¹²
And the ten horns that you saw are
ten kings
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 give over their power and authority to the beast;
¹⁴
they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

15
 And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
¹⁶
And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; 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 giving over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
¹⁸
And the woman that you saw is the great city which 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; and the earth was made bright with his splendor.
²
And he called out with a mighty voice,

  
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

  
It has become a dwelling place of demons,

  
a haunt of every foul spirit,

  
a haunt of every foul and hateful bird;

 
³
for all nations have
drunk
^k
the wine of her impure passion,

  
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,

  
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness."

⁴
Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

  
"
Come out of her
, my people,

  
lest you take part in her sins,

  
lest you share in her plagues;

 
⁵
for her sins are heaped high as heaven,

  
and God has remembered her iniquities.

 
⁶
Render to her as she herself has rendered,

  
and repay her double for her deeds;

  
mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.

 
⁷
As she glorified herself and played the wanton,

  
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning.

  
Since in her heart she says, 'A queen I sit,

  
I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,'

 ⁸
so shall her plagues come in a single day,

  
pestilence and mourning and famine,

  
and she shall be burned with fire;

  
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her."

9
 
And the kings of the earth
, who committed fornication and were wanton 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,

  
"Alas! alas! you great city,

  
you mighty city, Babylon!

  
In one hour has your judgment come."

11
 
*
 
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more,
¹²
cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble,
¹³
cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.

¹⁴
"The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you,

  
and all your delicacies and your splendor are lost to you, never to be found again!"

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

¹⁶
"Alas, alas, for the great city