Babylon Is Fallen

18 After these things I saw another (A)angel (B)coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was (C)illuminated from his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “[a](D)Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She (E)has become a dwelling place of demons and a [b]prison of every (F)unclean spirit, and a [c]prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have fallen because of the (G)wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and (H)the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the (I)merchants of the earth have become rich from the [d]excessive wealth of her [e](J)luxury.”

I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “(K)Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues; for her sins have [f](L)piled up as high as heaven, and God has (M)remembered her offenses. (N)Pay her back even as she has paid, and [g]give back to her double according to her deeds; in the (O)cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. (P)To the extent that she glorified herself and (Q)lived luxuriously, to the same extent give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘(R)I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ For this reason (S)in one day her plagues will come, [h]plague and mourning and famine, and she will be (T)burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her (U)is strong.

Grief over Babylon

“And (V)the kings of the earth, who committed acts of sexual immorality and (W)lived luxuriously with her, will (X)weep and mourn over her when they (Y)see the smoke of her burning, 10 (Z)standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘(AA)Woe, woe, (AB)the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in (AC)one hour your judgment has come.’

11 “And the (AD)merchants of the earth (AE)weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— 12 cargo of (AF)gold, silver, precious [i]stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; every kind of citron wood, every article of ivory, and every article made from very valuable wood, [j]bronze, iron, and marble; 13 cinnamon, [k]spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, [l]slaves, and (AG)human lives. 14 The fruit [m]you long for has left you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and people will no longer find them. 15 The (AH)merchants of (AI)these things, who became rich from her, will (AJ)stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, 16 saying, ‘(AK)Woe, woe, (AL)the great city, she who (AM)was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and [n]adorned with gold, precious [o]stones, and pearls; 17 for in (AN)one hour such great wealth has been laid (AO)waste!’ And (AP)every shipmaster and every [p]passenger and sailor, and all who [q]make their living by the sea, (AQ)stood at a distance, 18 and were (AR)crying out as they (AS)saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘(AT)What city is like (AU)the great city?’ 19 And they threw (AV)dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘(AW)Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea (AX)became rich from her prosperity, for in (AY)one hour she has been laid (AZ)waste!’ 20 (BA)Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you [r]saints and (BB)apostles and prophets, because (BC)God has [s]pronounced judgment for you against her.”

21 Then [t]a (BD)strong angel (BE)picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, (BF)the great city, be thrown down with violence, and (BG)will never be found again. 22 And (BH)the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again; and the (BI)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 (BJ)voice of the groom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your (BK)merchants were the powerful people of the earth, because all the nations were deceived (BL)by your witchcraft. 24 And in her was found the (BM)blood of prophets and of [u]saints, and of (BN)all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:2 Lit Babylon...fell, fell
  2. Revelation 18:2 Or haunt
  3. Revelation 18:2 Or haunt
  4. Revelation 18:3 Lit power
  5. Revelation 18:3 Or sensuality
  6. Revelation 18:5 Lit joined together
  7. Revelation 18:6 Lit double to her
  8. Revelation 18:8 Lit death; i.e., a particular kind of death
  9. Revelation 18:12 Lit stone
  10. Revelation 18:12 Or brass
  11. Revelation 18:13 Gr amomon, an Indian spice plant
  12. Revelation 18:13 Lit bodies
  13. Revelation 18:14 Lit of your soul’s desire
  14. Revelation 18:16 Lit gilded
  15. Revelation 18:16 Lit stone and pearl
  16. Revelation 18:17 Lit one who sails to a place
  17. Revelation 18:17 Lit work the sea
  18. Revelation 18:20 Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
  19. Revelation 18:20 Lit judged your judgment of her
  20. Revelation 18:21 Lit one
  21. Revelation 18:24 Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people

Another Angel Says, Babylon The Great Fell, It Fell!

18 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority. And the earth was illuminated by his glory. And he cried-out with a strong voice, saying “Babylon the great fell, it fell! And it became a dwelling-place of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean bird, and a prison of every unclean and hated wild-beast. Because all the nations have drunk from[a] the wine of the passion[b] of her sexual-immorality, and the kings of the earth committed-sexual-immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth became-rich by the power of her luxury”.

A Voice Says, Come Out of Her, My People. Babylon’s Judgment Comes In One Day

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying “Come out of her, my people, so-that you will not participate in her sins, and so that you will not receive of her plagues, because her sins reached as far as heaven, and God remembered her wrongs. Render[c] to her as indeed she herself rendered, and double[d] the doubles in accordance with her works. Mix double for her in the cup in which she mixed. To the degree she glorified herself and lived-luxuriously[e], to that degree give her torment and mourning. Because she says in her heart that ‘I sit as queen and I am not a widow, and I will never see mourning’, for this reason her plagues will come in one day— death[f] and mourning and famine— and she will be burned-up with fire, because the Lord God, the One having judged her, is strong[g].

The Kings of The Earth Weep

“And the kings of the earth having committed-sexual-immorality with her and lived-luxuriously will weep and beat-their-breasts over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 while standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city— because your judgment came in one hour’.

The Merchants of The Earth Weep

11 “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargo[h] anymore— 12 cargo of gold and of silver and of precious stone and of pearls, and of fine-linen and of purple and of silk and of scarlet, and everything made-of-citron wood, and every object made-of-ivory, and every object from very-precious wood and brass and iron and marble, 13 and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense, and wine and olive-oil and fine-flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and of horses and of carriages, and of bodies[i]— even[j] souls of people. 14 And[k] the fruit of [l] the desire of your soul departed from you; indeed all the rich things and shining things perished from you, and people will never find them anymore. 15 The merchants of these things, the ones having become-rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, 16 saying ‘Woe, woe, the great city, the one having been clothed-with fine-linen and purple and scarlet, and having been gilded with gold, and with precious stone and pearl— 17 because so much wealth was desolated in one hour!’

All Who Work The Sea Weep

“And every helmsman[m] and everyone sailing to a place and sailors and all-who work the sea stood at a distance, 18 and were crying-out while seeing the smoke of her burning, saying ‘What city is like the great city?’ 19 And they threw dirt on their heads and were crying-out, weeping and mourning, saying ‘Woe, woe, the great city by which all the ones having ships at sea became-rich because-of her preciousness[n]— because she was desolated in one hour!’

Saints Celebrate

20 “Celebrate[o] over her, heaven and saints and apostles and prophets— because God judged your judgment[p] from her!”

A Strong Angel Says Babylon Will Never Be Seen Again

21 And one strong angel picked-up a stone like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying “In this manner, Babylon the great city will be thrown-down with violence and never found again. 22 And a sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will never be heard in you again. And every craftsman of every craft will never be found in you again. And a sound of a mill will never be heard in you again. 23 And a light of a lamp will never shine in you again. And a sound of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Because your merchants were the princes of the earth. Because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery, 24 and in her the blood of prophets and saints was found, even of all the ones having been slain upon the earth”.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:3 Some manuscripts say, fallen because-of.
  2. Revelation 18:3 See 14:8.
  3. Revelation 18:6 This may be addressed to God’s agents for Babylon’s destruction (17:16-17); or, this may be a prayer to God by the voice in v 4.
  4. Revelation 18:6 That is, give back to her double for the things she doubled to others.
  5. Revelation 18:7 Or, lived-sensually.
  6. Revelation 18:8 Or, pestilence.
  7. Revelation 18:8 Or, mighty, powerful.
  8. Revelation 18:11 Or, freight.
  9. Revelation 18:13 That is, slaves, human livestock.
  10. Revelation 18:13 Or, bodies, and.
  11. Revelation 18:14 Here the voice of v 4 addresses Babylon directly.
  12. Revelation 18:14 That is, sought by.
  13. Revelation 18:17 That is, pilot of a ship.
  14. Revelation 18:19 Or, costliness. That is, because of the costly nature of Babylon’s things.
  15. Revelation 18:20 The voice directly addresses believers again, as in v 4.
  16. Revelation 18:20 That is, exacted your verdict.