6 I saw that the woman was drunk on the blood of the saints and the blood of Jesus’ witnesses. I was completely stunned when I saw her.
7 Then the angel said to me, "Why are you amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and the seven-headed, ten-horned beast that carries her.
8 The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. Those who live on earth, whose names haven’t been written in the scroll of life from the time the earth was made, will be amazed when they see the beast, because it was and is not and will again be present.
9 This calls for an understanding mind. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated. They are also seven kings.
10 Five kings have fallen, the one is, and the other hasn’t yet come. When that king comes, he must remain for only a short time.
11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is itself an eighth king that belongs to the seven, and it is going to destruction.
12 The ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who haven’t yet received royal power. But they will receive royal authority for an hour, along with the beast.