Revelation 17:7-9

Expanded Bible

⁷ Then the angel said to me, “Why are you amazed [astonished]? I will tell you the ·secret [mystery] of this woman and the beast ·she rides [that carries her]—the one with seven heads and ten horns. ⁸ The beast you saw ·was once alive but is not alive now [^Lwas, and is not; 13:3, 12, 14]. But soon it will come up out of the ·bottomless pit [Abyss; 9:1] and go away to ·be destroyed [its destruction]. There are people who live on earth whose names have not been written in the ·book [scroll] of life [3:5] since the ·beginning [foundation; creation] of the world. They will be amazed when they see the beast, because he was ·once alive, is not alive now, but will come again [^Lwas, is not, but is to come; ^Cimitating the divine title of the Lamb (1:18; 2:8) and God (1:4, 8; 4:8)].

⁹ “You need a wise mind to understand this. The seven heads on the beast are seven ·mountains [or hills; ^CRome was built on seven hills] where the woman sits.