Chapter
Verse
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Revelation 17:16

ESV And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,
NIV The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
NASB And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.
CSB The ten horns you saw, and the beast, will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, devour her flesh, and burn her up with fire.
NLT The scarlet beast and his ten horns all hate the prostitute. They will strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire.
KJV And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
NKJV And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire.

What does Revelation 17:16 mean?

This verse explains what happens to the prostitute of John's vision (Revelation 17:1), a religious side of the ungodly world system referred to as "Babylon."

The horns represent kings. The ten kings and the beast, most likely the head of the Revived Roman Empire, will hate religious Babylon and will destroy her. The corrupt ecumenical system, therefore, will come to a sudden end. Perhaps religious Babylon will receive too much loyalty and too much wealth to the liking of the beast and the ten kings. They want all the loyalty and resources for themselves. We know from chapter 13 that the beast demands worship of himself (Revelation 13:11–12), so he likely views religious Babylon as competition that he must destroy.

The beast and his ten royal cohorts leave the prostitute, religious Babylon, desolate and naked. When they finish her off, they will confiscate all her wealth. The destruction of religious Babylon probably occurs in the middle of the tribulation when the beast comes into power, assumes the role of God, and demands everyone to worship him. This suggests that the unspiritual, ungodly religious character of the world at the beginning of the tribulation will be gutted and destroyed by the coming of the Antichrist and his allies.
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