¹⁵ you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword.

² and when the Lord your God delivers ^(A)them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. ^(B)You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.

^28 (A)‘Nevertheless no ^[a]devoted offering that a man may devote to the Lord of all that he has, both man and beast, or the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted offering is most holy to the Lord.

^20 (A)“He who sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

² For ^(A)true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He ^(B)has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” ³ Again they said, “Alleluia! ^(C)Her smoke rises up forever and ever!”

^18 (A)and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ^(B)‘What is like this great city?’

^19 (C)“They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! ^(D)For in one hour she ^[a]is made desolate.’

^20 (E)“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you ^[b]holy apostles and prophets, for ^(F)God has avenged you on her!”

Finality of Babylon’s Fall

²¹ Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ^(G)“Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and ^(H)shall not be found anymore. ^22 (I)The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. ^23 (J)The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, ^(K)and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For ^(L)your merchants were the great men of the earth, ^(M)for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. ²⁴ And ^(N)in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who ^(O)were slain on the earth.”

¹⁶ And the ten horns which you ^[a]saw on the beast, ^(A)these will hate the harlot, make her ^(B)desolate ^(C)and naked, eat her flesh and ^(D)burn her with fire.

⁴⁸ And the men of Israel turned back against the children of Benjamin, and struck them down with the edge of the sword—from every city, men and beasts, all who were found. They also set fire to all the cities they came to.

²⁴ But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.