‏ Revelation of John 18

And the woman that you saw is ^athe great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”

1

The Fall of Babylon

2After this I saw ^banother angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and ^cthe earth was made bright with his glory. 3And he called out with a mighty voice,

^d“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become ^ea dwelling place for demons,
a haunt ^ffor every unclean spirit,
a haunt ^gfor every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
4For all nations have drunk ▼

▼Some manuscripts fallen by

ⁱthe wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and ^jthe kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and ^kthe merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

5Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

^l“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
6for ^mher sins are heaped high as heaven,
and ⁿGod has remembered her iniquities.
7 ^oPay her back as she herself has paid back others,
and repay her ^pdouble for her deeds;
mix a double portion for her ^qin the cup she mixed.
8 ^rAs she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
^s‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
and mourning I shall never see.’
9For this reason her plagues will come ^tin a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and ^ushe will be burned up with fire;
for ^vmighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

10And ^wthe kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, ^xwill weep and wail over her ^ywhen they see the smoke of her burning. 11 ^zThey will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

“Alas! Alas! ^aaYou great city,
you mighty city, Babylon!
For ^abin a single hour your judgment has come.”

12And ^acthe merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 13cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 14cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. ▼

▼Or  and slaves, and human lives

15“The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you,
never to be found again!”

16 ^aeThe merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, ^afwill stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

17“Alas, alas, for the great city
^agthat was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
18For ^ahin a single hour all this wealth ^aihas been laid waste.”

And ^ajall shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 19and ^akcried out ^alas they saw the smoke of her burning,

^am“What city was like the great city?”

20And they threw ^andust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

“Alas, alas, for the great city
^aowhere all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For ^apin a single hour she has been laid waste.
21 ^aqRejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and ^arapostles and prophets,
for ^asGod has given judgment for you against her!”

22Then ^ata mighty angel ^autook up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

“So will Babylon ^avthe great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more;
23and ^awthe sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
will be found in you no more,
and ^axthe sound of the mill
will be heard in you no more,
24and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and ^aythe voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for ^azyour merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived ^baby your sorcery.