Revelation 18
Christian Standard Bible
The Fall of Babylon the Great
18 After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven,(A) and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 He called out in a mighty voice:
It has fallen,[a]
Babylon the Great has fallen!(B)
She has become a home for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
and a haunt[b] for every unclean and despicable beast.[c](C)
3 For all the nations have drunk[d]
the wine of her sexual immorality,
which brings wrath.(D)
The kings of the earth
have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth
have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess.(E)
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven:
Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins(F)
or receive any of her plagues.
5 For her sins are piled up[e] to heaven,(G)
and God has remembered her crimes.(H)
6 Pay her back the way she also paid,(I)
and double it according to her works.(J)
In the cup in which she mixed,(K)
mix a double portion for her.
7 As much as she glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways,
give her that much torment and grief.
For she says in her heart,
“I sit as a queen;
I am not a widow,
and I will never see grief.”(L)
8 For this reason her plagues will come in just one day—
death and grief and famine.(M)
She will be burned up with fire,(N)
because the Lord God who judges(O) her is mighty.(P)
The World Mourns Babylon’s Fall
9 The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and shared her sensual and excessive ways will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning. 10 They will stand far off in fear of her torment,(Q) saying,
Woe, woe, the great city,(R)
Babylon, the mighty city!
For in a single hour
your judgment has come.
11 The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any longer— 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; all kinds of fragrant wood products; objects of ivory; objects of expensive wood, brass,[f] iron, and marble; 13 cinnamon, spice,[g] incense, myrrh,[h] and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and grain; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and slaves—human lives.(S)
14 The fruit you craved has left you.
All your splendid and glamorous things are gone;
they will never find them again.
15 The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, 16 saying,
Woe, woe, the great city,
dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet,
adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls;(T)
17 for in a single hour
such fabulous wealth was destroyed!
And every shipmaster, seafarer, the sailors, and all who do business by sea, stood far off 18 as they watched the smoke from her burning and kept crying out, “Who was like the great city?” (U) 19 They threw dust on their heads and kept crying out, weeping, and mourning,(V)
Woe, woe, the great city,(W)
where all those who have ships on the sea
became rich from her wealth;
for in a single hour she was destroyed.
20 Rejoice over her, heaven,
and you saints, apostles, and prophets,(X)
because God has pronounced on her the judgment(Y) she passed on you!
The Finality of Babylon’s Fall
21 Then a mighty angel(Z) picked up a stone like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
In this way, Babylon the great city
will be thrown down violently(AA)
and never be found again.(AB)
22 The sound of harpists, musicians,
flutists, and trumpeters
will never be heard in you again;(AC)
no craftsman of any trade
will ever be found in you again;
the sound of a mill
will never be heard in you again;
23 the light of a lamp
will never shine in you again;
and the voice of a groom and bride
will never be heard in you again.(AD)
All this will happen
because your merchants
were the nobility of the earth,
because all the nations were deceived
by your sorcery.
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and saints,(AE)
and of all those slaughtered on the earth.(AF)
Footnotes
- 18:2 Other mss omit It has fallen
- 18:2 Or prison
- 18:2 Other mss omit the words and a haunt for every unclean beast. The words and despicable then refer to the bird of the previous line.
- 18:3 Some mss read collapsed; other mss read fallen
- 18:5 Or sins have reached up
- 18:12 Or bronze, or copper
- 18:13 Other mss omit spice
- 18:13 Or perfume
Revelation 18
Lexham English Bible
Lament Over Babylon the Great
18 After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, who had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 And 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.
3 For all the nations have drunk[a]
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.”
4 And 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,
5 because her sins have reached up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Pay back to her as she herself also paid out,
and pay back double[b] according to her deeds;
in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her.
7 As 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!’
8 Because 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!”
9 And 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, 10 standing far off[c] because of the fear of her torment, saying,
“Woe, woe, the great city,
Babylon the powerful city,
because in one hour your judgment has come!”
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— 12 cargo 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 13 and cinnamon and amomum[d] 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[e] and human lives.
14 “And the fruit your soul desires[f] has departed from you,
and all the luxury and the splendor has perished from you,
and they will never find them any more.”
15 The merchants of these things, who became rich from them, will stand far off[g], weeping and mourning because of the fear of her torment, 16 saying,
“Woe, woe, the great city,
dressed in fine linen and purple cloth and scarlet cloth,
and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,
17 because in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!”
And every shipmaster and every seafarer[h] and sailors and all those who labor on the sea stood far off[i] 18 and began to cry out when they[j] saw the smoke of her burning, saying, “Who is like the great city?” 19 And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,
“Woe, woe, the great city,
in which all those who had ships on the sea
became rich from her prosperity,
because in one hour she has been laid waste!”
20 Rejoice over her, heaven
and the saints and the apostles and the prophets,
because God has pronounced your judgment on her!”
21 And 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,
and will never be found again!
22 And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters
will never be heard in you again!
And every craftsman of every trade
will never be found in you again!
And the sound of a mill
will never be heard in you again!
23 And the light of a lamp
will never shine in you again!
And the sound of a bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again!
For your merchants were the most important people of the earth,
because with your sorcery they deceived all the nations.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints
and all those who had been slaughtered on the earth.
Footnotes
- Revelation 18:3 Some of the best manuscripts read “have fallen”
- Revelation 18:6 Literally “double twofold”
- Revelation 18:10 Literally “from afar”
- Revelation 18:13 Or “spice”; the term can refer to “spice” in general, or specifically to amomum, a spice from India
- Revelation 18:13 Literally “bodies”
- Revelation 18:14 Literally “your fruit of desire”
- Revelation 18:15 Literally “from afar”
- Revelation 18:17 Literally “everyone who sails to a place”
- Revelation 18:17 Literally “from afar”
- Revelation 18:18 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
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