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17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, “It is finished!” 18 Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed. And a great earthquake struck—the worst since people were placed on the earth. 19 The great city of Babylon split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath. 20 And every island disappeared, and all the mountains were leveled. 21 There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing as much as seventy-five pounds[a] fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the terrible plague of the hailstorm.

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Footnotes

  1. 16:21 Greek 1 talent [34 kilograms].

17 Finally[a] the seventh angel[b] poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying: “It is done!” 18 Then[c] there were flashes of lightning, roaring,[d] and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake—an earthquake unequaled since humanity[e] has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake. 19 The[f] great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations[g] collapsed.[h] So[i] Babylon the great was remembered before God, and was given the cup[j] filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath.[k] 20 Every[l] island fled away[m] and no mountains could be found.[n] 21 And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a 100 pounds[o] each, fell from heaven[p] on people,[q] but they[r] blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it[s] was so horrendous.[t]

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 16:17 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “finally” to indicate the conclusion of the seven bowl judgments.
  2. Revelation 16:17 tn Grk “the seventh”; the referent (the seventh angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  3. Revelation 16:18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
  4. Revelation 16:18 tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”
  5. Revelation 16:18 tn The singular ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used generically here to refer to the human race.
  6. Revelation 16:19 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  7. Revelation 16:19 tn Or “of the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
  8. Revelation 16:19 tn Grk “fell.”
  9. Revelation 16:19 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).
  10. Revelation 16:19 tn Grk “the cup of the wine of the anger of the wrath of him.” The concatenation of four genitives has been rendered somewhat differently by various translations (see the note on the word “wrath”).
  11. Revelation 16:19 tn Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (thumos) and ὀργή (orgē) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9). Thus in Rev 14:8 (to which the present passage alludes) and 18:3 there is irony: The wine of immoral behavior with which Babylon makes the nations drunk becomes the wine of God’s wrath for her.
  12. Revelation 16:20 tn Grk “And every.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  13. Revelation 16:20 tn Or “vanished.”
  14. Revelation 16:20 sn Every island fled away and no mountains could be found. Major geographical and topographical changes will accompany the Day of the Lord.
  15. Revelation 16:21 tn Here BDAG 988 s.v. ταλαντιαῖος states, “weighing a talentχάλαζα μεγάλη ὡς ταλαντιαία a severe hailstorm with hailstones weighing a talent (the talent=125 librae, or Roman pounds of c. 343 gr. or 12 ounces each) (weighing about a 100 pounds NRSV) Rv 16:21.” This means each hailstone would weigh just under 100 pounds or 40 kilograms.
  16. Revelation 16:21 tn Or “the sky.” Due to the apocalyptic nature of this book, it is probably best to leave the translation as “from heaven,” since God is ultimately the source of the judgment.
  17. Revelation 16:21 tn Grk “on men,” but ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used here in a generic sense to refer to people in general (the hailstones did not single out adult males, but would have also fallen on women and children).
  18. Revelation 16:21 tn Grk “the men”; for stylistic reasons the pronoun “they” is used here.
  19. Revelation 16:21 tn Grk “the plague of it.”
  20. Revelation 16:21 tn Grk “since the plague of it was exceedingly great.”