👑WEB · Revelation 17:8
What does Revelation 17:8 mean?
"The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present."
— Revelation 17:8 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
And on her forehead a name was written, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement.
The angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
The beast that you saw was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into destruction. Those who dwell on the earth and whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see that the beast was, and is not, and shall be present.
Here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
They are seven kings. Five have fallen, the one is, the other has not yet come. When he comes, he must continue a little while.
The beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goes to destruction.
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