Revelation 17:3

17:3 So ¹  he carried me away in the Spirit ²  to a wilderness, ³  and there ⁴  I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.

Revelation 17:7

17:7 But ⁵  the angel said to me, “Why are you astounded? I will interpret ⁶  for you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with the seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

Revelation 17:18

17:18 As for ⁷  the woman you saw, she is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.”

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¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation to witness the fate of the prostitute.

² tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

³ tn Or “desert.”

⁴ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

⁶ tn Grk “I will tell you,” but since what follows is the angel’s interpretation of the vision, “interpret for you” is the preferred translation here.

⁷ tn Grk “And.” Because this remark is somewhat resumptive in nature, “as for” is used in the translation.