He said to me: it is better to specify the speaker: “The angel said to me.” Good News Translation adds “also” because what follows is a continuation of the speech of the same angel in the previous verses.

The waters … where the harlot is seated: the translation here must be the same as in verse 1.

Are: or “represent,” “stand for” (as in verses 9-10, 12).

Peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues: this is the same list that appears in 5.9 and other passages, except that here multitudes (Good News Translation “peoples”) is used instead of “tribes” in the other passages. The explanation of The waters makes it clear that the powerful prostitute rules over all of the world’s nations. In certain languages that do not speak about all these categories of people, this phrase will be rendered more naturally as “represent all the peoples of the world.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Revelation to John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .