Revelation 18

Revelation 18

The Fall of Babylon

¹After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined by his splendor.[#Ezek 43.2; Rev 10.1; 17.1]

²He called out with a mighty voice,[#Isa 13.21, 22; Jer 50.39; Rev 14.8]

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

It has become a dwelling place of demons,

a haunt of every foul spirit,

a haunt of every foul bird,

a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.

³For all the nations have fallen[#Jer 25.15, 27; Rev 14.8; #18.3 Other ancient authorities read all the nations have drunk]

from the wine of the wrath of her prostitution,

and the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality with her,

and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxury.”

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,[#Isa 48.20; Jer 50.8; 2 Cor 6.17]

“Come out of her, my people,

so that you do not take part in her sins

and so that you do not share in her plagues,

⁵for her sins are heaped high as heaven,[#Jer 51.9; Rev 16.19]

and God has remembered her iniquities.

⁶Render to her as she herself has rendered,[#Ps 137.8; Jer 50.15; Rev 14.10; 16.19]

and repay her double for her deeds;

mix a double dose for her in the cup she mixed.

⁷As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,[#Isa 47.7, 8; Ezek 28.2–8; Zeph 2.15]

so give her a like measure of torment and grief.

Since in her heart she says,

‘I rule as a queen;

I am no widow,

and I will never see grief,’

⁸therefore her plagues will come in a single day—[#Isa 47.9; Jer 50.34; Rev 11.17; 17.16]

pestilence and mourning and famine—

and she will be burned with fire,

for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

⁹And the kings of the earth, who engaged in sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning;[#v 18 ; Jer 50.46; Rev 17.2; 19.3; #18.9 Or prostitution]

¹⁰they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,[#vv 15–17, 19]

“Alas, alas, the great city,

Babylon, the mighty city!

For in one hour your judgment has come.”

¹¹And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more,

¹²cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble,[#Rev 17.4]

¹³cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, choice flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, slaves—and human lives.[#Ezek 17.13; #18.13 Or chariots, and human bodies and souls]

¹⁴“The fruit for which your soul longed

has gone from you,

and all your delicacies and your splendor

are lost to you,

never to be found again!”

¹⁵The merchants of these wares, who grew wealthy from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,[#Ezek 27.31, 36]

¹⁶“Alas, alas, the great city,[#Rev 17.4]

clothed in fine linen,

adorned with gold,

¹⁷For in one hour all this wealth has been laid waste!”[#Isa 23.14; Ezek 27.29; Rev 17.16]

And all shipmasters and seafarers, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off

¹⁸and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,[#Ezek 27.30; Rev 13.4]

“What city was like the great city?”

¹⁹And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,[#Josh 7.6; Job 2.12; Ezek 27.30]

“Alas, alas, the great city,

where all who had ships at sea

grew rich by her wealth!

For in one hour she has been laid waste.”

²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her condemnation of you.[#Isa 44.23; Jer 51.48; Rev 19.2]

²¹Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,[#Jer 51.63; Rev 12.8]

“With such violence Babylon the great city

will be thrown down

and will be found no more;

²²and the sound of harpists and entertainers and of flutists and trumpeters[#Isa 24.8; Jer 25.10; Ezek 26.13]

will be heard in you no more,

and an artisan of any trade

will be found in you no more,

and the sound of the millstone

will be heard in you no more,

²³and the light of a lamp[#Isa 23.8; Jer 7.34; 16.9; 25.10; Nah 3.4]

will shine in you no more,

and the voice of bridegroom and bride

will be heard in you no more,

for your merchants were the magnates of the earth,

and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

²⁴And in you was found the blood of prophets and of saints[#Jer 51.49; Rev 17.6; #18.24 Gk her]

and of all who have been slaughtered on earth.”