Revelation 18

1After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth shone with his glory. 2He shouted with a mighty voice: “Babylon the great has fallen, has fallen! She has become a home for demons, a lair for every unclean spirit, a lair for every unclean bird, a lair for every unclean and hateful beast. 3Through the wine of her raging immorality all the nations have fallen; the kings of the earth committed immorality with her, and the earth’s merchants grew rich from her extravagant luxury.”

4Then I heard another voice from heaven: “Leave her, my people, so that you have no part in her sins and do not suffer any of her plagues. 5For her sins have stacked up as high as heaven, and God has not forgotten her crimes. 6Treat her as she treated others; repay her twice over for her deeds; mix her a double draught in the very cup she mixed. 7In proportion to the glory she gave herself and the luxury she lived in, give her torment and mourning. In her heart she keeps saying, ‘Here I sit, a queen; I am not a widow, and mourning I will never see.’ 8So her plagues will strike in one day, death, grief, and famine, and fire will burn her up; for the Lord God who has judged her is strong.”

9The earth’s kings, who shared her immorality and her luxury, will weep and beat their breasts over her as they watch the smoke rise from her burning. 10Keeping far away for fear of her torment, they will say, “Woe, woe, great city, Babylon, city of strength! In a single hour your judgment has come.”

11The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their goods any more: 12goods of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; all kinds of citron wood, and all sorts of objects of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13cinnamon and spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine and olive oil, fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and slaves, human lives. 14The harvest of all that your heart desired has left you, and everything rich and dazzling is lost to you; no one will ever find it again. 15Those who dealt in these things and were made rich by her will keep their distance in fear of her torment, weeping and grieving: 16“Woe, woe for the great city, which wore fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and was decked with gold, jewels, and pearls! 17So much wealth, and in one hour it is ruined!” Every helmsman, every traveler by sea, the sailors and all who work on the sea kept their distance 18and shouted as they looked at the smoke of her burning: “What city was like the great city?” 19Throwing dust on their heads, weeping and mourning, they cried: “Woe, woe for the great city! Her wealth made rich everyone who owned a ship at sea, and in one hour she has been laid waste.”

20Celebrate her fall, heaven, and you holy people, apostles, and prophets! God has taken up your case against her and judged it.

21A strong angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone and flung it into the sea. “Like this,” he said, “violently, Babylon the great city will be hurled down, and no one will find her any more. 22No more will the music of harpists and singers, of flute players and trumpeters, be heard in you; no craftsman of any trade will be found in you again; the sound of the millstone will be heard in you no more; 23the light of a lamp will shine in you no more; the voices of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and by your sorcery all the nations were led astray. 24The blood of prophets and of God’s holy people was found in her, the blood of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”