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Hosea 9-11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Hosea 9-11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 9
From Days of Celebration to Days of Punishment
1 Do not rejoice, Israel,
do not exult like the nations!
For you have prostituted yourself, abandoning your God,
loving a prostitute’s fee
upon every threshing floor.[a]
2 Threshing floor and wine press will not nourish them,
the new wine will fail them.
3 They will not dwell in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.
4 They will not pour libations of wine to the Lord,
and their sacrifices will not please him.
Their bread will be like mourners’ bread,[b](A)
that makes unclean all who eat of it;
Their food will be for their own appetites;
it cannot enter the house of the Lord.
5 What will you do on the festival day,
the day of the Lord’s feast?[c]
6 [d]When they flee from the devastation,
Egypt will gather them, Memphis will bury them.
Weeds will overgrow their silver treasures,
and thorns, their tents.
7 They have come, the days of punishment!
they have come, the days of recompense!
Let Israel know it!
“The prophet is a fool,(B)
the man of the spirit is mad!”
Because your iniquity is great,
great, too, is your hostility.
8 [e]The watchman of Ephraim, the people of my God, is the prophet;(C)
yet a fowler’s snare is on all his ways,
hostility in the house of his God.
9 They have sunk to the depths of corruption,
as in the days of Gibeah;[f](D)
God will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
From Former Glory to a History of Corruption
10 Like grapes in the desert,
I found Israel;
Like the first fruits of the fig tree, its first to ripen,(E)
I looked on your ancestors.
But when they came to Baal-peor[g](F)
and consecrated themselves to the Shameful One,
they became as abhorrent as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim is like a bird:
their glory flies away—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(G)
12 Even though they bring up their children,
I will make them childless, until no one is left.
Indeed, woe to them
when I turn away from them!
13 Ephraim, as I saw, was a tree
planted in a meadow;
But now Ephraim will bring out
his children to the slaughterer!
14 Give them, Lord!
give them what?
Give them a miscarrying womb,
and dry breasts!(H)
15 All their misfortune began in Gilgal;[h]
yes, there I rejected them.
Because of their wicked deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no longer;
all their princes are rebels.
16 [i]Ephraim is stricken,
their root is dried up;(I)
they will bear no fruit.(J)
Were they to bear children,
I would slay the beloved of their womb.
17 My God will disown them
because they have not listened to him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.(K)
Chapter 10
Destruction of Idolatrous Cultic Objects
1 (L)Israel is a luxuriant vine
whose fruit matches its growth.
The more abundant his fruit,
the more altars he built;
The more productive his land,
the more sacred pillars[j] he set up.
2 Their heart is false!
Now they will pay for their guilt:
God will break down their altars
and destroy their sacred pillars.
3 For now they will say,
“We have no king![k]
Since we do not fear the Lord,
the king—what could he do for us?”
4 They make promises,
swear false oaths, and make covenants,
While lawsuits sprout
like poisonous weeds[l] in the furrows of a field!
5 The inhabitants of Samaria are afraid
for the calf of Beth-aven;[m]
Its people mourn for it
and its idolatrous priests wail over it,
—over its glory which has departed from it.(M)
6 It too will be carried to Assyria,
as an offering to the great king.[n](N)
Ephraim will be put to shame,
Israel will be shamed by his schemes.
7 Samaria and her king will disappear,
like a twig upon the waters.
8 The high places of Aven[o] will be destroyed,
the sin of Israel;
thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars.
Then they will cry out to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall upon us!”(O)
War Because of Israel’s Wickedness
9 Since the days of Gibeah(P)
you have sinned, Israel.
There they took their stand;
will war not reach them in Gibeah?
Against a perverse people
10 I came and I chastised them;
Peoples will be gathered against them
when I bind them to their two crimes.[p]
11 Ephraim was a trained heifer,
that loved to thresh;
I myself laid a yoke
upon her beautiful neck;
I will make Ephraim break ground, Judah must plow,
Jacob must harrow for himself:
12 “Sow for yourselves justice,
reap the reward of loyalty;
Break up for yourselves a new field,(Q)
for it is time to seek the Lord,
till he comes and rains justice upon you.”(R)
13 But you have plowed wickedness,
reaped perversity,
and eaten the fruit of falsehood.
Because you have trusted in your own power,
and in your many warriors,(S)
14 The clamor of war shall break out among your people
and all your fortresses shall be ravaged
As Salman ravaged Beth-arbel[q] on the day of war,
smashing mothers along with their children.(T)
15 So it will be done to you, Bethel,
because of your utter wickedness:
At dawn[r] the king of Israel
will utterly disappear.
Chapter 11
The Disappointment of a Parent
1 [s]When Israel was a child I loved him,(U)
out of Egypt[t] I called my son.(V)
2 The more I called them,
the farther they went from me,
Sacrificing to the Baals
and burning incense to idols.
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
who took them in my arms;(W)
but they did not know that I cared for them.
4 I drew them with human cords,
with bands of love;[u]
I fostered them like those
who raise an infant to their cheeks;
I bent down to feed them.(X)
5 He shall return to the land of Egypt,(Y)
Assyria shall be his king,
because they have refused to repent.
6 The sword shall rage in his cities:
it shall destroy his diviners,
and devour them because of their schemings.
7 My people have their mind set on apostasy;
though they call on God in unison,
he shall not raise them up.
But Love Is Stronger and Restores
8 How could I give you up, Ephraim,
or deliver you up, Israel?
How could I treat you as Admah,
or make you like Zeboiim?[v](Z)
My heart is overwhelmed,
my pity is stirred.
9 I will not give vent to my blazing anger,
I will not destroy Ephraim again;
For I am God and not a man,(AA)
the Holy One present among you;
I will not come in wrath.
10 They shall follow the Lord,
who roars like a lion;(AB)
When he roars,
his children shall come frightened from the west,
11 Out of Egypt they shall come trembling, like birds,
like doves, from the land of Assyria;
And I will resettle them in their homes,
oracle of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 9:1 Threshing floor: an allusion to harvest festivals in honor of Baal, to whom the Israelites had attributed the fertility of the land; cf. 2:7.
- 9:4 Mourners’ bread: bread eaten at funeral rites (Dt 26:14). The presence of a corpse also made all food prepared in that house unclean (Jer 16:5–7).
- 9:5 The Lord’s feast: probably the important autumn feast of Booths, the most important of the Israelite public celebrations (Lv 23:34).
- 9:6 Instead of gathering for celebration (v. 5), they will be gathered for death. Memphis: known for the monumental pyramid tombs. Silver treasures: the silver statues of Baal (8:4).
- 9:8 Prophets, like Hosea himself, are called to be sentinels for Israel, warning Israel of God’s coming wrath (see Ez 3:17; 33:7), but often meet rejection.
- 9:9 The days of Gibeah: the precise allusion is not clear. Perhaps it is a reference to the outrage committed at Gibeah in the days of the judges (Jgs 19–21), or to questions surrounding Saul’s kingship at Gibeah (1 Sm 10:26; 14:2; 22:6).
- 9:10 Baal-peor: where the Israelites consecrated themselves for the first time to Baal (Nm 25; see note on Hos 5:1–2). Baal is here called the Shameful One.
- 9:15 Gilgal: possibly a reference to Saul’s disobedience to Samuel (1 Sm 13:7–14; 15), or to the idolatry practiced in that place (see note on Hos 4:15).
- 9:16 Wordplay on the Hebrew word for “fruit” (peri) and Ephraim (see note on 8:9). The whole passage (vv. 10–17) presents a reversal of Ephraim’s name (Gn 41:52). He will have no fruit, a condition which will result in extinction.
- 10:1 Sacred pillars: see note on 3:4.
- 10:3 No king: the instability of the monarchy (7:3–7) and its vassalage to foreign kings (7:8–16) render the monarchy ineffective. The kings do the opposite of what they are supposed to do (10:4).
- 10:4 Lawsuits…like poisonous weeds: the administration of justice, which should have been the mainstay of the people, has in corrupt hands become another instrument of oppression; cf. Am 6:12.
- 10:5 The calf of Beth-aven: see note on 4:15.
- 10:6 The great king: a title used by the Assyrian kings. See also note on 5:13.
- 10:8 Aven: wickedness, first of all at Bethel (v. 5), but also at all the high places.
- 10:10 Two crimes: the allusion is not clear; a possible reference is the outrage described in Jgs 19.
- 10:14 As Salman ravaged Beth-arbel: perhaps Salamanu, king of Moab, mentioned in an inscription of Tiglath-pileser III, after an invasion in Gilead (Transjordan), where there was a Beth-arbel, close to present Irbid.
- 10:15 At dawn: normally the moment of God’s victory over Israel’s enemies, and thus his salvation (Is 17:14; Ps 46:6). Here it is a reversal of this expectation.
- 11:1–3 After the image of husband-wife (chaps. 1–3), Hosea uses the image of parent-child (Ex 4:22; Is 1:2; Jer 3:19).
- 11:1 Out of Egypt: Hosea dates the real beginning of Israel from the time of the exodus. Mt 2:15 applies this text to the return of Jesus from Egypt.
- 11:4 I drew them…with bands of love: perhaps a reversal of the yoke imagery of the previous chapter, i.e., not forcing them like draft animals, but drawing them with kindness and affection.
- 11:8 Admah…Zeboiim: cities in the vicinity of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gn 14:2, 8) and destroyed with them (Gn 19:24–25; Dt 29:22).
Hosea 9-11
New International Version
Hosea 9-11
New International Version
Punishment for Israel
9 Do not rejoice, Israel;
do not be jubilant(A) like the other nations.
For you have been unfaithful(B) to your God;
you love the wages of a prostitute(C)
at every threshing floor.
2 Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people;
the new wine(D) will fail them.
3 They will not remain(E) in the Lord’s land;
Ephraim will return to Egypt(F)
and eat unclean food in Assyria.(G)
4 They will not pour out wine offerings(H) to the Lord,
nor will their sacrifices please(I) him.
Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners;(J)
all who eat them will be unclean.(K)
This food will be for themselves;
it will not come into the temple of the Lord.(L)
5 What will you do(M) on the day of your appointed festivals,(N)
on the feast days of the Lord?
6 Even if they escape from destruction,
Egypt will gather them,(O)
and Memphis(P) will bury them.(Q)
Their treasures of silver(R) will be taken over by briers,
and thorns(S) will overrun their tents.
7 The days of punishment(T) are coming,
the days of reckoning(U) are at hand.
Let Israel know this.
Because your sins(V) are so many
and your hostility so great,
the prophet is considered a fool,(W)
the inspired person a maniac.(X)
8 The prophet, along with my God,
is the watchman over Ephraim,[a]
yet snares(Y) await him on all his paths,
and hostility in the house of his God.(Z)
9 They have sunk deep into corruption,(AA)
as in the days of Gibeah.(AB)
God will remember(AC) their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.(AD)
10 “When I found Israel,
it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the early fruit(AE) on the fig(AF) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,(AG)
they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol(AH)
and became as vile as the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim’s glory(AI) will fly away like a bird(AJ)—
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.(AK)
12 Even if they rear children,
I will bereave(AL) them of every one.
Woe(AM) to them
when I turn away from them!(AN)
13 I have seen Ephraim,(AO) like Tyre,
planted in a pleasant place.(AP)
But Ephraim will bring out
their children to the slayer.”(AQ)
14 Give them, Lord—
what will you give them?
Give them wombs that miscarry
and breasts that are dry.(AR)
15 “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,(AS)
I hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,(AT)
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;(AU)
all their leaders are rebellious.(AV)
16 Ephraim(AW) is blighted,
their root is withered,
they yield no fruit.(AX)
Even if they bear children,
I will slay(AY) their cherished offspring.”
17 My God will reject(AZ) them
because they have not obeyed(BA) him;
they will be wanderers among the nations.(BB)
10 Israel was a spreading vine;(BC)
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;(BD)
as his land prospered,(BE)
he adorned his sacred stones.(BF)
2 Their heart is deceitful,(BG)
and now they must bear their guilt.(BH)
The Lord will demolish their altars(BI)
and destroy their sacred stones.(BJ)
3 Then they will say, “We have no king
because we did not revere the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?”
4 They make many promises,
take false oaths(BK)
and make agreements;(BL)
therefore lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weeds(BM) in a plowed field.
5 The people who live in Samaria fear
for the calf-idol(BN) of Beth Aven.[b](BO)
Its people will mourn over it,
and so will its idolatrous priests,(BP)
those who had rejoiced over its splendor,
because it is taken from them into exile.(BQ)
6 It will be carried to Assyria(BR)
as tribute(BS) for the great king.(BT)
Ephraim will be disgraced;(BU)
Israel will be ashamed(BV) of its foreign alliances.
7 Samaria’s king will be destroyed,(BW)
swept away like a twig on the surface of the waters.
8 The high places(BX) of wickedness[c](BY) will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns(BZ) and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.(CA)
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”(CB)
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”(CC)
9 “Since the days of Gibeah,(CD) you have sinned,(CE) Israel,
and there you have remained.[d]
Will not war again overtake
the evildoers in Gibeah?
10 When I please, I will punish(CF) them;
nations will be gathered against them
to put them in bonds for their double sin.
11 Ephraim is a trained heifer
that loves to thresh;
so I will put a yoke(CG)
on her fair neck.
I will drive Ephraim,
Judah must plow,
and Jacob must break up the ground.
12 Sow(CH) righteousness(CI) for yourselves,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;(CJ)
for it is time to seek(CK) the Lord,
until he comes
and showers his righteousness(CL) on you.
13 But you have planted wickedness,
you have reaped evil,(CM)
you have eaten the fruit of deception.(CN)
Because you have depended on your own strength
and on your many warriors,(CO)
14 the roar of battle will rise against your people,
so that all your fortresses will be devastated(CP)—
as Shalman(CQ) devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.(CR)
15 So will it happen to you, Bethel,
because your wickedness is great.
When that day dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.(CS)
God’s Love for Israel
11 “When Israel was a child,(CT) I loved(CU) him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.(CV)
2 But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.[e](CW)
They sacrificed to the Baals(CX)
and they burned incense to images.(CY)
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;(CZ)
but they did not realize
it was I who healed(DA) them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.(DB)
To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed(DC) them.(DD)
5 “Will they not return to Egypt(DE)
and will not Assyria(DF) rule over them
because they refuse to repent?(DG)
6 A sword(DH) will flash in their cities;
it will devour(DI) their false prophets
and put an end to their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn(DJ) from me.(DK)
Even though they call me God Most High,
I will by no means exalt them.
8 “How can I give you up,(DL) Ephraim?(DM)
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?(DN)
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion(DO) is aroused.(DP)
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,(DQ)
nor will I devastate(DR) Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man(DS)—
the Holy One(DT) among you.
I will not come against their cities.
10 They will follow the Lord;
he will roar(DU) like a lion.(DV)
When he roars,
his children will come trembling(DW) from the west.(DX)
11 They will come from Egypt,
trembling like sparrows,
from Assyria,(DY) fluttering like doves.(DZ)
I will settle them in their homes,”(EA)
declares the Lord.
Israel’s Sin
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:8 Or The prophet is the watchman over Ephraim, / the people of my God
- Hosea 10:5 Beth Aven means house of wickedness (a derogatory name for Bethel, which means house of God).
- Hosea 10:8 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see verse 5.
- Hosea 10:9 Or there a stand was taken
- Hosea 11:2 Septuagint; Hebrew them
- Hosea 11:12 In Hebrew texts this verse (11:12) is numbered 12:1.
Ben Sira 43:1-12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Ben Sira 43:1-12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 43
1 The beauty of the celestial height and the pure firmament,(A)
heaven itself manifests its glory.
2 The sun at its rising shines at its fullest,
a wonderful instrument, the work of the Most High!
3 At noon it scorches the earth,
and who can bear its fiery heat?
4 Like a blazing furnace of solid metal,
the sun’s rays set the mountains aflame;
Its fiery tongue consumes the world;
the eyes are burned by its fire.
5 Great indeed is the Lord who made it,
at whose orders it urges on its steeds.
6 It is the moon that marks the changing seasons,
governing the times, their lasting sign.(B)
7 By it we know the sacred seasons and pilgrimage feasts,
a light which wanes in its course:
8 The new moon like its name[a] renews itself;
how wondrous it is when it changes:
A military signal for the waterskins on high,
it paves the firmament with its brilliance,
9 The beauty of the heavens and the glory of the stars,
a shining ornament in the heights of God.(C)
10 By the Lord’s command the moon keeps its appointed place,
and does not fade as the stars keep watch.
11 Behold the rainbow! Then bless its Maker,
for majestic indeed is its splendor;(D)
12 It spans the heavens with its glory,
the hand of God has stretched it out in power.
Footnotes
- 43:8 Like its name: there is a play in the Hebrew text on the words for moon and renewal. Waterskins: clouds as source of rain.
Revelation 18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Revelation 18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 18
The Fall of Babylon.[a] 1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth became illumined by his splendor.(A) 2 [b]He cried out in a mighty voice:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.(B)
She has become a haunt for demons.
She is a cage for every unclean spirit,
a cage for every unclean bird,
[a cage for every unclean] and disgusting [beast].
3 For all the nations have drunk[c]
the wine of her licentious passion.
The kings of the earth had intercourse with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her drive for luxury.”(C)
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“Depart from her,[d] my people,
so as not to take part in her sins
and receive a share in her plagues,(D)
5 for her sins are piled up to the sky,
and God remembers her crimes.(E)
6 Pay her back as she has paid others.
Pay her back double for her deeds.
Into her cup pour double what she poured.(F)
7 To the measure of her boasting and wantonness
repay her in torment and grief;
for she said to herself,
‘I sit enthroned as queen;
I am no widow,
and I will never know grief.’(G)
8 Therefore, her plagues will come in one day,
pestilence, grief, and famine;
she will be consumed by fire.
For mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”
9 The kings of the earth who had intercourse with her in their wantonness will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her pyre. 10 They will keep their distance for fear of the torment inflicted on her, and they will say:
“Alas, alas, great city,
Babylon, mighty city.
In one hour your judgment has come.”
11 The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her, because there will be no more markets[e] for their cargo: 12 their cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple silk, and scarlet cloth; fragrant wood of every kind, all articles of ivory and all articles of the most expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 cinnamon, spice,[f] incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human beings.
14 “The fruit you craved
has left you.
All your luxury and splendor are gone,
never again will one find them.”(H)
15 The merchants who deal in these goods, who grew rich from her, will keep their distance for fear of the torment inflicted on her. Weeping and mourning, 16 they cry out:
“Alas, alas, great city,
wearing fine linen, purple and scarlet,
adorned [in] gold, precious stones, and pearls.(I)
17 In one hour this great wealth has been ruined.”
Every captain of a ship, every traveler at sea, sailors, and seafaring merchants stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her pyre, “What city could compare with the great city?” 19 (J)They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning:
“Alas, alas, great city,
in which all who had ships at sea
grew rich from her wealth.
In one hour she has been ruined.
20 Rejoice over her, heaven,
you holy ones, apostles, and prophets.
For God has judged your case against her.”(K)
21 A mighty angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone and threw it into the sea and said:
“With such force will Babylon the great city be thrown down,
and will never be found again.(L)
22 No melodies of harpists and musicians,
flutists and trumpeters,
will ever be heard in you again.
No craftsmen in any trade
will ever be found in you again.
No sound of the millstone
will ever be heard in you again.(M)
23 No light from a lamp
will ever be seen in you again.
No voices of bride and groom
will ever be heard in you again.
Because your merchants were the great ones of the world,
all nations were led astray by your magic potion.(N)
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and holy ones
and all who have been slain on the earth.”(O)
Footnotes
- 18:1–19:4 A stirring dirge over the fall of Babylon-Rome. The perspective is prophetic, as if the fall of Rome had already taken place. The imagery here, as elsewhere in this book, is not to be taken literally. The vindictiveness of some of the language, borrowed from the scathing Old Testament prophecies against Babylon, Tyre, and Nineveh (Is 23; 24; 27; Jer 50–51; Ez 26–27), is meant to portray symbolically the inexorable demands of God’s holiness and justice; cf. Introduction. The section concludes with a joyous canticle on the future glory of heaven.
- 18:2 Many Greek manuscripts and versions omit a cage for every unclean…beast.
- 18:3–24 Rome is condemned for her immorality, symbol of idolatry (see note on Rev 14:4), and for persecuting the church; cf. Rev 19:2.
- 18:4 Depart from her: not evacuation of the city but separation from sinners, as always in apocalyptic literature.
- 18:11 Ironically, the merchants weep not so much for Babylon-Rome, but for their lost markets; cf. Ez 27:36.
- 18:13 Spice: an unidentified spice plant called in Greek amōmon.
Revelation 18
New International Version
Revelation 18
New International Version
Lament Over Fallen Babylon
18 After this I saw another angel(A) coming down from heaven.(B) He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.(C) 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’[a](D)
She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit,(E)
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.(F)
3 For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.(G)
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,(H)
and the merchants of the earth grew rich(I) from her excessive luxuries.”(J)
Warning to Escape Babylon’s Judgment
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’[b](K)
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;(L)
5 for her sins are piled up to heaven,(M)
and God has remembered(N) her crimes.
6 Give back to her as she has given;
pay her back(O) double(P) for what she has done.
Pour her a double portion from her own cup.(Q)
7 Give her as much torment and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.(R)
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit enthroned as queen.
I am not a widow;[c]
I will never mourn.’(S)
8 Therefore in one day(T) her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,(U)
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
Threefold Woe Over Babylon’s Fall
9 “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her(V) and shared her luxury(W) see the smoke of her burning,(X) they will weep and mourn over her.(Y) 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off(Z) and cry:
11 “The merchants(AC) of the earth will weep and mourn(AD) over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore(AE)— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble;(AF) 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.(AG)
14 “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ 15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her(AH) will stand far off,(AI) terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn(AJ) 16 and cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,(AK)
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!(AL)
17 In one hour(AM) such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’(AN)
“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea,(AO) will stand far off.(AP) 18 When they see the smoke of her burning,(AQ) they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city(AR)?’(AS) 19 They will throw dust on their heads,(AT) and with weeping and mourning(AU) cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,(AV)
where all who had ships on the sea
became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’(AW)
20 “Rejoice over her, you heavens!(AX)
Rejoice, you people of God!
Rejoice, apostles and prophets!
For God has judged her
with the judgment she imposed on you.”(AY)
The Finality of Babylon’s Doom
21 Then a mighty angel(AZ) picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea,(BA) and said:
“With such violence
the great city(BB) of Babylon will be thrown down,
never to be found again.
22 The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters,
will never be heard in you again.(BC)
No worker of any trade
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in you again.(BD)
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.(BE)
Your merchants were the world’s important people.(BF)
By your magic spell(BG) all the nations were led astray.
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people,(BH)
of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”(BI)
Footnotes
- Revelation 18:2 Isaiah 21:9
- Revelation 18:4 Jer. 51:45
- Revelation 18:7 See Isaiah 47:7,8.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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