American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
For the lips of a strange woman drop honey,And her mouth is smoother than oil:
But in the end she is bitter as wormwood,Sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;Her steps take hold on Sheol;
{Or, Lest thou find the level &c. Or, Lest thou weigh carefully the path of life}So that she findeth not the level path of life:Her ways are unstable, and {Or, thou canest not know them}she knoweth it not.
To deliver thee from the strange woman,Even from the foreigner that {Hebrew: maketh smooth her words.}flattereth with her words;
That forsaketh the {Or, guide}friend of her youth,And forgetteth the covenant of her God:
For {Or, she sinketh down unto death, which is her house}her house inclineth unto death,And her paths unto {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead;
None that go unto her return again,Neither do they attain unto the paths of life:
Thy lips, O my bride, {Or, drop honey}drop as the honeycomb:Honey and milk are under thy tongue;And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
His mouth was smooth as butter,But his heart was war:His words were softer than oil,Yet were they drawn swords.
Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?
but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.
And I find more bitter than death the woman {Or, who is a snare, and her heart is as nets}whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
Wisdom hath builded her house;She hath hewn out her seven pillars:
She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine;She hath also furnished her table:
She hath sent forth her maidens;She crieth upon the highest places of the city:
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither:As for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him,
Come, eat ye of my bread,And drink of the wine which I have mingled.
{Or, Folly}The foolish woman is clamorous;She is {Hebrew: simplicity.}simple, and knoweth nothing.
And she sitteth at the door of her house,On a seat in the high places of the city,
To call to them that pass by,Who go right on their ways:
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither;And as for him that is void of understanding, she saith to him,
Stolen waters are sweet,And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
But he knoweth not that {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead are there;That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
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;
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.
And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, {Or, names full of blasphemy}full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and {Greek: gilded.}decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, {Or, and of the unclean things}even the unclean things of her fornication,
and upon her forehead a name written, {Or, a mystery, Babylon the Great}MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the {Or, witnesses See chapter 2:13}martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.
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.
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, {Some ancient authorities read and he goeth.}and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written {Greek: on.}in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and {Greek: shall be present.}shall come.
Here is the {Or, meaning}mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth:
and {Or, there are}they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while.
And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into perdition.
And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast.
These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire.
For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.
And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which {Greek: hath a kingdom.}reigneth over the kings of the earth.
and upon her forehead a name written, {Or, a mystery, Babylon the Great}MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.