Revelation 18

Lament Over Babylon the Great

¹After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, who had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.

²And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,

and it has become a dwelling place of demons

and a haunt of every unclean spirit

and a haunt of every unclean bird

and a haunt of every unclean and detested animal.

³For all the nations have drunk[#Some of the best manuscripts read “have fallen”]

from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,

and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her,

and the merchants of the earth have become rich

from the power of her sensuality.”

⁴And I heard another voice from heaven saying,

“Come out from her, my people,

so that you will not participate in her sins,

and so that you will not receive her plagues,

⁵because her sins have reached up to heaven,

and God has remembered her crimes.

⁶Pay back to her as she herself also paid out,

and pay back double according to her deeds;

in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her.

⁷As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury,

give to her so much torment and mourning,

because in her heart she said,

‘I sit as a queen, and am not a widow,

and I will never see mourning!’

⁸Because of this her plagues will come in one day—

death and mourning and famine—

and she will be burned up with fire,

because the Lord God who passes judgment on her is powerful!”

⁹And the kings of the earth will weep and mourn over her, those who committed sexual immorality and lived sensually with her, when they see the smoke of her burning,

¹⁰standing far off because of the fear of her torment, saying,[#Literally “from afar”]

“Woe, woe, the great city,

because in one hour your judgment has come!”

¹¹And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more—

¹²cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble

¹³and cinnamon and amomum and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and slaves and human lives.[#Or “spice”; the term can refer to “spice” in general, or specifically to amomum, a spice from India; #Literally “bodies”]

¹⁴“And the fruit your soul desires has departed from you,[#Literally “your fruit of desire”]

and all the luxury and the splendor has perished from you,

¹⁵The merchants of these things, who became rich from them, will stand far off, weeping and mourning because of the fear of her torment,[#Literally “from afar”]

¹⁶saying,

“Woe, woe, the great city,

¹⁷because in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!”

And every shipmaster and every seafarer and sailors and all those who labor on the sea stood far off

¹⁸and began to cry out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, “Who is like the great city?”[#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal]

¹⁹And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,

“Woe, woe, the great city,

because in one hour she has been laid waste!”

²⁰Rejoice over her, heaven

because God has pronounced your judgment on her!”

²¹And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“In this way Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence,

²²And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters

And every craftsman of every trade

And the sound of a mill

²³And the light of a lamp

And the sound of a bridegroom and bride

For your merchants were the most important people of the earth,

²⁴And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints