Revelation 18:1-13

Contemporary English Version

The Fall of Babylon

18 I saw another angel come from heaven. This one had great power, and the earth was bright because of his glory. ²^(A) The angel shouted,

“Fallen! Powerful Babylon
    has fallen
and is now the home
    of demons.
It is the den
    of every filthy spirit
and of all unclean birds,
and every dirty
    and hated animal.
³^(B) Babylon's evil and immoral wine
    has made all nations drunk.
Every king on earth
    has slept with her,
and every merchant on earth
is rich because of
    her evil desires.”

⁴^(C) Then I heard another voice
    from heaven shout,
“My people, you must escape
    from Babylon.
Don't take part in her sins
    and share her punishment.
⁵^(D) Her sins are piled
    as high as heaven.
God has remembered the evil
    she has done.
⁶^(E) Treat her as she
    has treated others.
Make her pay double
    for what she has done.
Make her drink twice as much
of what she mixed
    for others.
⁷^(F) That woman honored herself
    with a life of luxury.
Reward her now
    with suffering and pain.

“Deep in her heart
Babylon said,
    ‘I am the queen!
Never will I be a widow
or know what it means
    to be sad.’
⁸And so, in a single day
she will suffer the pain
    of sorrow, hunger, and death.
Fire will destroy
    her dead body,
because her judge
    is the powerful Lord God.”

⁹^(G) Every king on earth who slept with her and shared in her luxury will mourn. They will weep, when they see the smoke from that fire. ¹⁰Her sufferings will frighten them, and they will stand at a distance and say,

“Pity that great
and powerful city!
Pity Babylon!
In a single hour
her judgment has come.”

¹¹^(H) Every merchant on earth will mourn, because there is no one to buy their goods. ¹²^(I) There won't be anyone to buy their gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, sweet-smelling wood, fancy carvings of ivory and wood, as well as things made of bronze, iron, or marble. ¹³No one will buy their cinnamon, spices, incense, myrrh, frankincense,^[a] wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, slaves, and other humans.

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Footnotes

18.13 myrrh, frankincense: Myrrh was a valuable sweet-smelling powder often used in perfume. Frankincense was a valuable powder that was burned to make a sweet smell.