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“The kings of the earth, who have committed adultery and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 Standing far off for the fear of her torment, they will say:

‘Alas, alas for that great city,
    that mighty city, Babylon!
In one hour your judgment has come.’

11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more: 12 the merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all artifacts of ivory, all merchandise of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, myrrh and frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves and souls of men.

14 ‘The fruit that your soul lusted after
    has departed from you,
and all the things which graceful and exquisite
    have departed from you,
    and you shall never find them.’

15 “The merchants of these things, who gained wealth by her, will stand far off for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 and saying:

‘Alas, alas, that great city,
    that was arrayed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet,
    and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17 In one hour such great riches came to nothing!’

“All sea captains and seafaring men, sailors and all who trade by sea, stood far off, 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like this great city?’ 19 They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying:

‘Alas, alas, that great city,
    in which all who had ships in the sea
    grew rich from her wealth!
In one hour she has been laid waste!’

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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