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The Book of Revelation 18

18 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. God had given great authority to this angel. The angel was shining so brightly that he lit up the earth. 2 The angel shouted very loudly, “God is about to destroy the evil city of Babylon completely. People will no longer live in the ruins of the city. All kinds of evil spirits will live there. All kinds of disgusting scavenger birds will also live there. 3 God is going to destroy Babylon because that evil city influenced many people groups to devote themselves to idol worship. Babylon influenced the rulers of those groups, and they made their people worship idols. Babylon also set an example of living in luxury. This made people in other places want to live in the same way. Those who sold luxury goods made a lot of money selling the goods to those people.”

4 Then I heard someone else speak from heaven. He said, “My people, run away from that evil city of Babylon! If you stay there, you may sin as the people there do. And if you sin as they do, I will punish you in the same way that I will punish them. 5 Run away because the people of that evil city have sinned very greatly and God is now going to punish them for what they have done.”

6 The voice from heaven told the angels whom God had assigned to punish Babylon, “Punish the people of that city just as much as they harmed other people. In fact, cause them to suffer twice as much as they caused other people to suffer. 7 The people of the city of Babylon honored themselves. They indulged in pleasures. To the same extent that they did that, torment them and cause them to grieve. Do that because they were confident that they would always rule other people. They were confident that they could provide themselves with everything they needed. They were confident that nothing bad would ever happen to them. 8 Because the people of Babylon are so wicked, terrible things will happen to them all at once. Some will die and others will mourn for them. People will be hungry because they will have no food. The city will burn up completely. The Lord God is able to punish her in these ways because he is mighty.”

9 The rulers of the peoples who live on earth worshiped idols with the people of Babylon. They indulged in pleasures with the people of Babylon. So they will mourn greatly for the city when they see it burning up. 10 Those rulers will stand far away from Babylon because they will be afraid that God will punish them too if they get too close. They will say, “How very terrible it is for the Great Babylon, that strong city! God is punishing the people who live there so quickly!” 11 And the merchants of the earth will mourn greatly for the city because no one living there will ever again buy the things that they have to sell.12-13 12-13They sell ornaments made of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls. They sell expensive cloth made of fine linen and silk, expensive cloth that is dyed purple and crimson. They sell many kinds of scented wood and many kinds of items made of ivory, the most expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble. They sell cinnamon, spices, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, and grain. They sell cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots. They even sell human beings as slaves. 14 Yes, the good things the people of Babylon longed to have are gone! God has punished them by destroying their many valuable possessions! They have lost those possessions permanently. 15 Many merchants earned a lot of money by selling these things. Those merchants will stand far away from Babylon because they will be afraid that God will punish them too if they get too close. They will mourn greatly 16 and they will say, “Very terrible things have happened to that great city! That city was like a woman who dressed in clothes made of fine linen and expensive cloth dyed purple and crimson and who wore gold jewelry with precious stones and pearls. 17 But God has destroyed all these expensive things so quickly!”

Every ship captain, every ship passenger, all sailors, and all others who do work involving the ocean will stand far away from the city. 18 When they see the smoke of the fire that is burning there, they will shout, “No other city has ever been like that great city!” 19 They will even throw dust on their heads to show that they are sad. Then they will shout in great distress, “Very terrible things have happened to Babylon. The people who lived in that city bought many expensive things, so that people who owned ships earned a lot of money by transporting those things there. God has destroyed that city so quickly!”

20 Then someone spoke from heaven saying, “You who live in heaven, rejoice over what has happened to Babylon! You who are God’s people, including you apostles and prophets, rejoice because God has justly punished the people of that city because they harmed you so badly!”

21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large stone for grinding grain and he threw it into the ocean. Then he said, “God will destroy the great city of Babylon abruptly! It will disappear completely, just as that stone disappeared into the ocean! Babylon will be gone forever! 22 In that city there will never again be anyone playing harps, singing, playing flutes, or blowing trumpets. There will no longer be any skilled workers making things. There will never again be people grinding grain at the mills. 23 No lamp will ever again shine there. There will never again be the happy voices of any bridegroom and his bride. God will destroy this city because its merchants were the most important people in the world. They were so prosperous because it was as if the city used witchcraft to get every people group to live as its people did. 24 The city is also guilty of killing the prophets and others of God’s people. Indeed, because it used violence and set an example of violence, it is guilty of every murder that people committed on the earth!”

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