⁴ The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet fabrics; she shimmered with gold and jewels and pearls. I looked closer and saw that her hand held a golden cup brimming with abominations, bubbling over with the impurities of her sexual exploits. ⁵ On her forehead was inscribed a name, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of whores and the abominations that defile the earth.” ⁶ I looked and saw that the woman was drunk because she had gorged herself on the blood of the saints and the blood of those people who refused to deny Jesus even to save their own lives. When I saw her, I was filled with wonder.