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) 8} The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss^(C) and go to its destruction.^(D) The inhabitants of the earth^(E) whose names have not been written in the book of life^(F) from the creation of the world will be astonished^(G) when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.

⁹ “This calls for a mind with wisdom.^(H) The seven heads^(I) are seven hills on which the woman sits.