The World Mourns Babylon’s Fall

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,(A) saying,

Woe, woe, the great city,(B)
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,[a] iron, and marble; 13 cinnamon, spice,[b] incense, myrrh,[c] and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and grain; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and slaves—human lives.(C)

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;(D)
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?” (E) 19 They threw dust on their heads and kept crying out, weeping, and mourning,(F)

Woe, woe, the great city,(G)
where all those who have ships on the sea
became rich from her wealth;
for in a single hour she was destroyed.

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Footnotes

  1. 18:12 Or bronze, or copper
  2. 18:13 Other mss omit spice
  3. 18:13 Or perfume

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[a] 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[b] 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[c] and human lives.

14 “And the fruit your soul desires[d] 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[e], 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[f] and sailors and all those who labor on the sea stood far off[g] 18 and began to cry out when they[h] 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!”

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 18:10 Literally “from afar”
  2. Revelation 18:13 Or “spice”; the term can refer to “spice” in general, or specifically to amomum, a spice from India
  3. Revelation 18:13 Literally “bodies”
  4. Revelation 18:14 Literally “your fruit of desire”
  5. Revelation 18:15 Literally “from afar”
  6. Revelation 18:17 Literally “everyone who sails to a place”
  7. Revelation 18:17 Literally “from afar”
  8. Revelation 18:18 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal