Revelation 17
1 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.
And oon of the seuene aungels cam, that hadde seuene viols, and spak with me, and seide, Come thou, Y schal schewe to thee the dampnacioun of the greet hoore, that sittith on many watris, with which kyngis of erthe diden fornicacioun;
2 The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”
and thei that dwellen in the erthe ben maad drunkun of the wyn of her letcherie.
3 And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.
And he took me in to desert in spirit. And Y say a womman sittynge on a reed beeste, ful of names of blasfemye, hauynge seuene heedis, and ten hornes.
4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
And the womman was enuyround with purpur, and reed, and ouergild with gold, and preciouse stoon, and peerls, hauynge a goldun cuppe in hir hoond, ful of abhomynaciouns and vnclennesse of her fornycacioun.
5 And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
And a name writun in the forheed of hir, Mysterie, Babiloyn the greet, modir of fornycaciouns, and of abhomynaciouns of erthe.
6 I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
And Y say a womman drunkun of the blood of seyntis, and of the blood of martris of Jhesu. And whanne Y say hir, Y wondride with greet wondryng.
7 “Why are you so amazed?” said the angel. “I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.
And the aungel seide to me, Whi wondrist thou? I schal seie to thee the sacrament yf the womman, and of the beeste that berith hir, that hath seuene heedis and ten hornes.
8 The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be. (Abyssos g12)
The beeste which thou seist, was, and is not; and sche schal stie fro depnesse, and sche schal go `in to perisching. And men dwellinge in erthe schulen wondre, whos names ben not writun in the book of lijf fro the makinge of the world, seynge the beeste, that was, and is not. (Abyssos g12)
9 This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
And this is the witt, who that hath wisdom. The seuene heedis ben seuene hillis, on whiche the womman sittith, and kyngis seuene ben.
10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.
Fyue han feld doun, oon is, and anothir cometh not yit. And whanne he schal come, it bihoueth hym to dwelle a schort tyme.
11 The beast that was, and now is not, is an eighth king, who belongs to the other seven and is going into destruction.
And the beeste that was, and is not, and sche is the eiytthe, and is of the seuene, and schal go in to perischyng.
12 The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive one hour of authority as kings, along with the beast.
And the ten hornes whiche thou hast seyn, ben ten kyngis, that yit han not take kyngdom; but thei schulen take power as kingis, oon our after the beeste.
13 These kings have one purpose: to yield their power and authority to the beast.
These han a counsel, and schulen bitake her vertu and power to the beeste.
14 They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and He will be accompanied by His called and chosen and faithful ones.”
These schulen fiyte with the lomb, and the lomb schal ouercome hem; for he is Lord of lordis, and kyng of kyngis; and thei that ben with hym, ben clepid, chosun, and feithful.
15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
And he seide to me, The watris whiche thou hast seyn, where the hoore sittith, ben puplis, and folkis, and langagis.
16 And the ten horns and the beast that you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
And the ten hornes that thou hast seyn in the beeste, these schulen make hir desolat and nakid, and schulen ete the fleischis of hir, and schulen brenne togidere hir with fier.
17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose by uniting to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
For God yaf in to the hertis of hem, that thei do that that is pleasaunt to hym, that thei yyue her kyngdom to the beeste, til the wordis of God ben endid.
18 And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
And the womman whom thou hast seyn, is the greet citee, that hath kingdom on kyngis of the erthe.
