Revelation 18

¹After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory. ²And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detested beast, ³because all the nations have fallen from the wine of the fury of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the power of her wanton luxury."

⁴And I heard another voice from heaven saying: "Come out of her, my people, so that you do not share in her sins, and so that you do not receive her plagues; ⁵for her sins have been heaped up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. ⁶Pay her back as she herself has paid out, and double her portion double according to her deeds; in the cup in which she mixed, mix her a double portion. ⁷To the degree that she glorified herself and lived in wanton luxury, give her that much torment and grief. For in her heart she says, 'I sit as queen; I am no widow, and I will never see grief.' ⁸Therefore in a single day her plagues will come—death and grief and famine—and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her."

⁹And the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality with her and lived in wanton luxury will weep and beat their breasts over her when they see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰standing far off because of the fear of her torment, saying, "Alas, alas, the great city, Babylon the mighty city! For in a single hour your judgment has come."

¹¹And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore— ¹²cargo of gold and silver, precious stone and pearls, fine linen and purple cloth, silk and scarlet cloth, every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory, every article made of most costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble, ¹³cinnamon and spice, incense and perfume and frankincense, wine and olive oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and carriages, and slaves—that is, human souls.

¹⁴"The ripe fruit your soul craved has gone from you, and all your luxuries and splendors have perished from you, and they will never be found again."

¹⁵The merchants of these things, who grew rich from her, will stand far off because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶saying, "Alas, alas, the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stone and pearl! ¹⁷For in a single hour such great wealth has been laid waste!" And every ship's captain and everyone who sails from place to place, the sailors and all who make their living from the sea, stood far off ¹⁸and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, "What city was like the great city?" ¹⁹And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying, "Alas, alas, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea grew rich from her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste."

²⁰"Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has rendered judgment against her for you!"

²¹And a mighty angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence will Babylon the great city be thrown down, and will never be found again. ²²And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will never be heard in you again, and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again, and the sound of the mill will never be heard in you again, ²³and the light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were led astray, ²⁴and in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and all who have been slaughtered on the earth."