17 And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple[217], from the throne, saying, It is done: 18 and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men[218] upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations[219] fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great.
6 The Vision of Victory (The Church's Vindication Manifested)
(A) The Mystical Babylon and Her Fall
Chapter 17.
The Judgment of the Great Harlot
1 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication.
Babylon the Harlot City
3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy[220], having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked[221] with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things[222] of her fornication, 5 and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT[223], THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs[224] of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.
The Mystery of the Woman and the Beast is Told
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go[225] into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in[226] the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come[227].