Revelation 18:1-24 - Lament Over Babylon The Great

¹ After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority and the earth was lighted up with his splendor. ² He shouted with a mighty voice: "She has fallen! Mighty Babylon has fallen! She has become a den for demons, a dungeon for every foul spirit and every unclean and loathsome bird, ³ because all the nations have fallen by drinking the raging wine of her immorality; the kings of the earth have joined her in her immorality, and the businessmen of the earth have grown rich from the wealth of her luxury."

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you may not share in her sins and suffer from her plagues. ⁵ For her sins are piled clear up to heaven, and God has remembered the wrongs which she has done. ⁶ Pay her back in her own coin; give her double for what she has done. In the cup that she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. ⁷ To the same degree in which she has lived in splendor and luxury, give her torture and tears. Because she is always boasting in her heart, 'I sit enthroned as queen; I am not a widow, I shall never experience any sorrow' -- ⁸ for this very reason her plagues will overtake her in a single day, death, grief, and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; because the Lord who has judged her is mighty.

⁹ The kings of the earth who have joined her in her immorality and luxury will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke from her burning. ¹⁰ They will stand a long way off for fear of her torture, saying, 'Alas! Alas for the great city, for Babylon the mighty city, because in a single day your judgment has overtaken you!'

¹¹ The businessmen of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one can buy their cargoes anymore -- ¹² cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones, fine linen, silk, and scarlet, all kinds of citron wood, all kinds of goods in ivory and costly woods, bronze, iron, and marble, ¹³ cinnamon, spices, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves, and the lives of human beings.

¹⁴ The ripe fruit of your soul's desire has gone from you, all your luxury and splendor have perished from your hands, and people will never find them again.

¹⁵ The businessmen who dealt in these things, who had grown rich from their business with her, will stand a long way off for fear of her torture, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶ and saying, 'Alas! Alas for the great city that was dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, that was decorated in gold, precious stones, and pearls, ¹⁷ because in a single hour a wealth so vast has been destroyed!' All ship pilots and all who travel by sea, sailors and seafaring men, stood a long way off ¹⁸ and cried out when they saw the smoke from her burning, 'What city was like the great city?' ¹⁹ They threw dust on their heads and wept and mourned, crying out, 'Alas! Alas for the great city where all who had ships on the sea grew rich from her great wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.' ²⁰ Celebrate over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets too, because God has taken vengeance on her for you."

²¹ Then a mighty angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: "With violence like this, Babylon the great city will be hurled to ruin, and it will never be found again. ²² The sound of harpists, musicians, flute-players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again. No craftsmen of any kind will ever be found in you again, and the sound of the grinding mill will never be heard in you again; ²³ the light of the lamp will never shine in you again; the voice of bride and bridegroom will never be heard in you again. For your businessmen were the great men of the earth; by your magic all the nations have been led astray; ²⁴ in her has been found the blood of prophets, saints, and all who have been slaughtered on the earth."