KJV King James Version
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
VERSE STUDY • KJV
Revelation 17:4
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Read it in 5 translations
BSB Berean Standard Bible
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.
WEB World English Bible
The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth.
ASV American Standard Version
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication,
YLT Young’s Literal Translation
and the woman was arrayed with purple and scarlet-colour, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom,
Surrounding context — Revelation 17
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
Topics connected to this verse
Original-language word links
These Hebrew/Greek tokens are linked by Strong's number. Click one for its lexicon definition and other occurrences.
καὶG2532 · kaiandἡG3588 · hothe/this/whoγυνὴG1135 · gunēwomanἦνG1510 · eimito beπεριβεβλημένηG4016 · periballōto clotheπορφυροῦνG4210 · porphureospurpleκαὶG2532 · kaiandκόκκινονG2847 · kokkinosscarletκαὶG2532 · kaiandκεχρυσωμένηG5558 · chrusoōto gildχρυσίῳG5553 · chrusiongoldκαὶG2532 · kaiandλίθῳG3037 · lithosstoneτιμίῳG5093 · timiospreciousκαὶG2532 · kaiandμαργαρίταις,G3135 · margaritēspearlἔχουσαG2192 · echōto have/beποτήριονG4221 · potērioncupχρυσοῦνG5552 · chruseosgoldenἐνG1722 · enin/on/amongτῇG3588 · hothe/this/whoχειρὶG5495 · cheirhandαὐτῆςG846 · autosit/s/heγέμονG1073 · gemōbe fullβδελυγμάτωνG946 · bdelugmaabominationκαὶG2532 · kaiandτὰG3588 · hothe/this/whoἀκάθαρταG169 · akathartosuncleanτῆςG3588 · hothe/this/whoπορνείαςG4202 · porneiasexual sinαὐτῆς.G846 · autosit/s/he
Cross-references
Jeremiah 51:7Babylon [hath been] a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.Revelation 18:16And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!Revelation 19:2For true and righteous [are] his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.Revelation 18:12The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,2 Thessalonians 2:3-10Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;Lamentations 1:9Her filthiness [is] in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified [himself].Revelation 14:8And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.Revelation 18:6-7Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.Daniel 11:38But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.Ezekiel 24:13In thy filthiness [is] lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.Ezekiel 24:11Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and [that] the filthiness of it may be molten in it, [that] the scum of it may be consumed.1 Kings 14:24And there were also sodomites in the land: [and] they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.Hosea 9:10I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: [but] they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto [that] shame; and [their] abominations were according as they loved.Ezra 9:11Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.2 Kings 21:2And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.Ezekiel 20:30Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?Deuteronomy 29:17And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which [were] among them:)Ezekiel 36:25Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
Compare classic commentaries on Revelation 17:4
Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.
Compare commentaries →