Lyrics

(from Revelation 1:3)

Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy

And blessed are those who hear

And who keep what is written therein

For the time is near

 

(from Revelation 1:7)

He is coming with the clouds

And every eye will see him

Everyone who pierced him

And all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him

 

(from Revelation 2:1-4)

Those of you who have not learned

What some call the deep things of Satan

I know your works

I know your toil

And your patient endurance

And how you cannot hear evil men

But have tested those who call themselves

Apostles

But are not

And found them to be false

I know you are enduring patiently

And bearing out

For my namesake

And you have not grown weary

But I have this against you

That you have abandoned

The love you had

 

(from Revelation 2:9-10)

I know your tribulation and your poverty

And the slander of those who say

That they are Jews

But they are not

They are a synagogue of Satan

Do not fear what you are about to suffer

Behold the devil is about to throw you into prison

 

Wanting

Needing

Waiting

For you

To justify my love

 

Hoping

Praying

For you

To justify my love

 

(from Revelation 13:1-10)

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea

With ten horns and seven heads

And a blasphemous name upon its head

And the beast that I saw was like a leopard

Its feet were like a bear's

And its mouth was like a lion's mouth

And to it the dragon gave his power

And his throne

And great authority

 

One of his heads had a mortal wound

But it seemed to have a mortal wound

That was healed

And the whole earth followed the beast with wonder

 

Men worshipped the dragon

For he had given his authority to the beast

And they worshipped the beast saying

"Who is like the beast and who can fight against the beast?"

And the beast was given a mouth

Uttering haughty and blasphemous words

And it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months

It opened its mouth to utter blasphemous

Words

Against

God

 

It was allowed to make war on the saints

And to conquer them

And authority was given it over every tribe

And a people and tongue and nation

And all who dwell on earth could worship it

In vain

If anyone has an ear let him hear

If anyone is to be taken captive, into captivity he will go

If anyone who slays with the sword, with the sword

 

Wanting

Needing

Waiting

For you

To justify my love

 

Hoping

 

(from Revelation 21:1-8)

Then

I saw a new heaven

And a new earth

And I heard a great voice from the throne saying

"Behold the dwelling of God is with men

He will dwell with them

And they shall be his people

And God himself will be with them

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes

And death shall be no more

Neither shall there be mourning

Nor crying

Nor pain

Anymore

For these things will have passed away

 

To the thirsty I will give water without price

From the fountain of the water of life

He who conquers shall have this heritage

And I will be his God and he shall be my son

 

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted

As for the murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolators

And all liars

Their lot shall be in the lake

That burns with fire [and brimstone]

 

(from Revelation 22:10-13)

And he said to me

He said to me

"Do not seal up the words of the prophecy

For the time is near

Let the evildoers still do evil

And the filthy still be filthy

And the righteous still do right

And the holy still be holy

Behold

I am coming soon

I am the alpha

And the omega

The first

And the last

The beginning

And the end"

 

Amen

 

What are you gonna do?

Credits

Remixed by Lenny Kravitz and Madonna

Lyrics taken from the Bible

Album

None

Song

In this haunting remix Madonna reads excerpts from the Book of Revelations. It appeared on the maxi-single of Justify My Love.

Tour

Madonna realized the power of this remix and used it as a stunning interlude for the Girlie Show, in which we see a attraction & rejection dance between two male dancers. 11 years later, she brought the song back as an intro on the Re-Invention Tour, this time displaying fitting video imagery taken from Steven Klein's X-Static Process exhibition. Although Madonna doesn't appear on stage until after the song, this intro was so haunting that it was a favorite among fans.