Revelation 18

Babylon Has Fallen

1 After this, I saw another angel coming down from heaven with tremendous authority, and the earth lit up with his glory.

2 He shouted powerfully, “Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons, unclean spirits, filthy birds, and every hated creature.”

3 “All nations drank the wine of her corrupt passion. Earth’s kings committed immorality with her, and merchants became rich from her excessive luxury.”

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say, “Come out of her, My people, so you do not participate in her sins or receive her plagues.”

5 “Her sins are stacked all the way to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.”

6 “Pay her back as she paid others. Give her double for what she did; mix her a double portion in her own cup.”

7 “Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. She says in her heart, ‘I sit like a queen. I am no widow, and grief will never touch me.’”

8 “That is why her plagues, death, sorrow, and famine, will strike in one day. Fire will consume her because the Lord God who judges her is mighty.”

9 The kings who shared her immorality and luxury will cry and mourn when they see the smoke rising from her fire.

10 Terrified by her torment, they will stand far off and say, “How terrible! Babylon, the mighty city, your judgment came in a single hour!”

11 The earth’s merchants will also weep because nobody buys their cargo anymore:

12 gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet fabric, fragrant wood, ivory, expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble;

13 cinnamon, spices, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, and even human bodies and souls.

14 They will say, “Everything you craved is gone. All your splendor and luxury vanished and will never be recovered.”

15 The merchants who became rich through her will stand far away in fear, crying and mourning.

16 They will say, “How terrible for the great city once dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, decorated with gold, jewels, and pearls!”

17 “All that wealth was destroyed in a single hour.” Every ship captain, passenger, sailor, and worker making a living from the sea stood far away.

18 Seeing the smoke from her fire, they cried, “Was any city ever like this great city?”

19 They threw dust on their heads and mourned, “How terrible! Everyone owning ships became rich through her wealth, but she was destroyed in one hour!”

20 “Celebrate over her, heaven! Rejoice, saints, apostles, and prophets, because God judged her for what she did to you.”

21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder like a huge millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Babylon will be thrown down this violently and never found again.”

22 “The sound of harps, musicians, flutes, and trumpets will never be heard in you again. No craftsman will work there, and no millstone will turn.”

23 “No lamp will shine there. No bride or groom will be heard. Your merchants once acted like the world’s royalty, and your sorcery deceived every nation.”

24 In her was found the blood of prophets, God’s people, and everybody slaughtered on the earth.