³ Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit^(A) into a wilderness.^(B) There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet^(C) beast that was covered with blasphemous names^(D) and had seven heads and ten horns.^(E)

⁷ Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery^(A) of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns.^(B)

⁹ “This calls for a mind with wisdom.^(A) The seven heads^(B) are seven hills on which the woman sits. ¹⁰ They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. ¹¹ The beast who once was, and now is not,^(C) is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.