Revelation Chapter 18
1 After that, I watched a different angel come down from the sky with great authority, and his glory lit up the world. 2 He shouted,
“Fallen, fallen, ‘Babylon’ the Great!
She’s become a place where demons live,
a haunt for unclean spirits and filthy birds.
3 All the nations have gotten drunk on the wine of her immoral fury.
Kings have committed immoral acts with her;
merchants have gotten rich from her sensual luxuries.”
Rev 18:1-3
4 I heard another voice from the sky,
“Get out of her, my people;
don’t take part in her sins
so you can avoid her plagues.
5 Her sins have piled up to the sky;
God has remembered her unjust acts.
6 Pay her back like she paid;
give her full payback for what she’s done;
mix double to her the cup she mixed.
7 As much as she glorified herself and lived sensuously,
give her torment and mourning.
Because she said to herself,
‘I sit like a queen;
I’ll never mourn,’
8 her plagues will all come at the same time:
mourning, famine, and death.
She’ll be burned up
because the LORD God that condemns her has the power.”
Rev 18:4-8
9 The kings that committed immoral acts and lived sensuously with her will cry and mourn when they see the smoke from her burning. 10 They’ll stand a long way off in fear of her torment,
“Woe, woe, the great city;
‘Babylon’ the powerful city,
all at once its condemnation has come.”
Rev 18:9-10
11 The merchants will cry and mourn over it because nobody’s buying their merchandise anymore: 12 gold, silver, precious stones, pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, red; different kinds of scented wood, articles made out of ivory and expensive wood, bronze, iron, marble; 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, perfume, frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine wheat flour, wheat; cattle, sheep, horses, four-wheeled chariots, slaves (human lives).
14 “The fruit you craved has left you;
everything luxurious and splendid
has perished from you;
people won’t find them anymore.”
Rev 18:11-14
15 Merchants who got rich from those things will stand a long way off, crying and mourning, in fear of her torment.
16 “Woe, woe, the great city,
clothed in fine linen, purple, and red;
adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls!
17 In a moment such wealth has disappeared!”
Shipmasters and sailors, who make their living on the sea, will stand a long way off 18 and cry as they watch the smoke from her burning. “What other city is like this great city?”
Rev 18:15-18
19 They’ll throw dust on their heads, shout, cry, and weep,
“Woe, woe, to the great city
where those with ships got rich from its wealth,
because all at once it’s been laid waste!”
20 Rejoice over it, heaven, saints, apostles, and prophets;
because God has decreed against it
the condemnation it decreed against you.”
Rev 18:19-20
21 A strong angel picked up a stone the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea,
“That’s how ‘Babylon,’ the great city,
will be violently overthrown,
and won’t be there anymore.
22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters
won’t be heard in it anymore;
no craftsman of any craft will be found in it anymore;
the sound of a mill won’t be heard in it anymore;
23 the light of a lamp won’t shine in it anymore;
the voice of the bride and groom won’t be heard in it anymore,
because its merchants were the greatest on earth,
because it deceived the nations with its sorceries,
24 and because the blood of prophets and saints was found in it
and all those murdered on earth.”
Rev 18:21-24