Revelation 18
English Standard Version
The Fall of Babylon
18 After this I saw (A)another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and (B)the earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice,
(C)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become (D)a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt (E)for every unclean spirit,
a haunt (F)for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
3 For all nations have drunk[a]
(G)the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and (H)the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and (I)the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
(J)“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
5 for (K)her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and (L)God has remembered her iniquities.
6 (M)Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
and repay her (N)double for her deeds;
mix a double portion for her (O)in the cup she mixed.
7 (P)As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
(Q)‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
and mourning I shall never see.’
8 For this reason her plagues will come (R)in a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and (S)she will be burned up with fire;
for (T)mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”
9 And (U)the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, (V)will weep and wail over her (W)when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 (X)They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
“Alas! Alas! (Y)You great city,
you mighty city, Babylon!
For (Z)in a single hour your judgment has come.”
11 And (AA)the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.[b]
14 “The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you,
never to be found again!”
15 (AB)The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, (AC)will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
16 “Alas, alas, for the great city
(AD)that was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
17 For (AE)in a single hour all this wealth (AF)has been laid waste.”
And (AG)all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and (AH)cried out (AI)as they saw the smoke of her burning,
(AJ)“What city was like the great city?”
19 And they threw (AK)dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,
“Alas, alas, for the great city
(AL)where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For (AM)in a single hour she has been laid waste.
20 (AN)Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and (AO)apostles and prophets,
for (AP)God has given judgment for you against her!”
21 Then (AQ)a mighty angel (AR)took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
“So will Babylon (AS)the great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more;
22 and (AT)the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
will be found in you no more,
and (AU)the sound of the mill
will be heard in you no more,
23 and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and (AV)the voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for (AW)your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived (AX)by your sorcery.
24 And (AY)in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of (AZ)all who have been slain on earth.”
Footnotes
- Revelation 18:3 Some manuscripts fallen by
- Revelation 18:13 Or and slaves, and human lives
Revelation 18
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Fall of Babylon the Great
18 After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 He cried in a mighty voice:
It has fallen,[a]
Babylon the Great has fallen!(A)
She has become a dwelling 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](B)
3 For all the nations have drunk[d]
the wine of her sexual immorality,
which brings wrath.(C)
The kings of the earth
have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth
have grown wealthy from her excessive luxury.
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven:
Come out of her, My people,
so that you will not share in her sins(D)
or receive any of her plagues.
5 For her sins are piled up[e] to heaven,(E)
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Pay her back the way she also paid,(F)
and double it according to her works.(G)
In the cup in which she mixed,(H)
mix a double portion for her.
7 As much as she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,
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.”(I)
8 For this reason her plagues will come in one day[f]—
death and grief and famine.
She will be burned up with fire,
because the Lord God who judges her is mighty.
The World Mourns Babylon’s Fall
9 The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and lived luxuriously with her will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 They will stand far off in fear of her torment, saying:
Woe, woe, the great city,
Babylon, the mighty city!
For in a single hour[g]
your judgment has come.
11 The merchants of the earth will also weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise any longer— 12 merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine fabrics of linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; all kinds of fragrant wood products; objects of ivory; objects of expensive wood, brass,[h] iron, and marble; 13 cinnamon, spice,[i][j] incense, myrrh,[k] and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine wheat flour, and grain; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and slaves[l] and human lives.[m](J)
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, precious stones, and pearls,
17 for in a single hour[n]
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 is like the great city?”(K) 19 They threw dust on their heads and kept crying out, weeping, and mourning:(L)
Woe, woe, the great city,(M)
where all those who have ships on the sea
became rich from her wealth,
for in a single hour[o] she was destroyed.
20 Rejoice over her, heaven,
and you saints, apostles, and prophets,(N)
because God has executed your judgment on her![p]
The Finality of Babylon’s Fall
21 Then a mighty angel(O) 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(P)
and never be found again.(Q)
22 The sound of harpists, musicians,
flutists, and trumpeters
will never be heard in you again;(R)
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.(S)
All this will happen
because your merchants
were the nobility of the earth,
because all the nations were deceived
by your sorcery,[q]
24 and the blood of prophets and saints,
and of all those slaughtered on earth,
was found in you.[r](T)
Footnotes
- Revelation 18:2 Other mss omit It has fallen
- Revelation 18:2 Or prison
- Revelation 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.
- Revelation 18:3 Some mss read have collapsed; other mss read have fallen
- Revelation 18:5 Or sins have reached up
- Revelation 18:8 Suddenly
- Revelation 18:10 Suddenly
- Revelation 18:12 Or bronze, or copper
- Revelation 18:13 Other mss omit spice
- Revelation 18:13 Or amomum, an aromatic plant
- Revelation 18:13 Or perfume
- Revelation 18:13 Or bodies
- Revelation 18:13 Slaves; “bodies” was the Gk way of referring to slaves; “souls of men” was the Hb way.
- Revelation 18:17 Suddenly
- Revelation 18:19 Suddenly
- Revelation 18:20 Or God pronounced on her the judgment she passed on you; see Rv 18:6
- Revelation 18:23 Ancient sorcery or witchcraft often used spells and drugs. Here the term may be non-literal, that is, Babylon drugged the nations with her beauty and power.
- Revelation 18:24 Lit in her
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