<p>17:15 <i>And he said to me: The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples and crowds and nations and tongues</i>- Babylon &quot;sits&quot; upon the kings of the earth / land; these are the ones she makes drunk with her teaching. The peoples and nations therefore primarily refer to those within the land promised to Abraham and the &quot;sea&quot;, the 'waters' immediately surrounding that land, over which the beat has dominion. It is out of these very peoples that there will arise some genuine Christian converts during the tribulation; see on 5:9; 7:9; 11:9 and 14:6.</p>