The Fall of Babylon the Great

1After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven,a and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2He called out in a mighty voice:

It has fallen,A

Babylon the Great has fallen!a

She has become a home for demons,

a haunt for every unclean spirit,

a haunt for every unclean bird,

and a hauntB for every unclean and despicable beast.C b

3For all the nations have drunkA

the wine of her sexual immorality,

which brings wrath.a

The kings of the earth

have committed sexual immorality with her,

and the merchants of the earth

have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess.b

4Then I heard another voice from heaven:

Come out of her, my people,

so that you will not share in her sinsa

or receive any of her plagues.

5For her sins are piled upA to heaven,a

and God has remembered her crimes.b

6Pay her back the way she also paid,a

and double it according to her works.b

In the cup in which she mixed,c

mix a double portion for her.

7As much as she glorified herself and indulged her sensual and excessive ways,

give her that much torment and grief.

For she says in her heart,

“I sit as a queen;

I am not a widow,

and I will never see grief.”a

8For this reason her plagues will come in just one day —

death and grief and famine.a

She will be burned up with fire,b

because the Lord God who judgesc her is mighty.d

The World Mourns Babylon’s Fall

9The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and shared her sensual and excessive ways will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning. 10They will stand far off in fear of her torment,a saying,

Woe, woe, the great city,b

Babylon, the mighty city!

For in a single hour

your judgment has come.

11The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any longer —  12cargo of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; all kinds of fragrant wood products; objects of ivory; objects of expensive wood, brass,A iron, and marble; 13cinnamon, spice,A incense, myrrh,B and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and grain; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and slaves — human lives.a

14The fruit you craved has left you.

All your splendid and glamorous things are gone;

they will never find them again.

15The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, 16saying,

Woe, woe, the great city,

dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet,

adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls;a

17for in a single hour

such fabulous wealth was destroyed!

And every shipmaster, seafarer, the sailors, and all who do business by sea, stood far off 18as they watched the smoke from her burning and kept crying out, “Who was like the great city? ”a 19They threw dust on their heads and kept crying out, weeping, and mourning,a

Woe, woe, the great city,b

where all those who have ships on the sea

became rich from her wealth;

for in a single hour she was destroyed.

20Rejoice over her, heaven,

and you saints, apostles, and prophets,a

because God has pronounced on her the judgmentb she passed on you!

The Finality of Babylon’s Fall

21Then a mighty angela picked up a stone like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

In this way, Babylon the great city

will be thrown down violentlyb

and never be found again.c

22The sound of harpists, musicians,

flutists, and trumpeters

will never be heard in you again;a

no craftsman of any trade

will ever be found in you again;

the sound of a mill

will never be heard in you again;

23the light of a lamp

will never shine in you again;

and the voice of a groom and bride

will never be heard in you again.a

All this will happen

because your merchants

were the nobility of the earth,

because all the nations were deceived

by your sorcery.

24In her was found the blood of prophets and saints,a

and of all those slaughtered on the earth.b