REV 18:20 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, magenta:vocative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT (“Rejoice over her, heaven,
⇔  also you saints and apostles and prophets,
⇔  for God has judged your judgment against her!”)

UST 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!”

BSB Rejoice over her, O heaven,
⇔ and [you] saints and apostles and prophets,
⇔ because God has pronounced for you
⇔ [His] judgment against her.

MSB Rejoice over her, O heaven,
⇔ and [you] saints and apostles[fn] and prophets,
⇔ because God has pronounced for you
⇔ [His] judgment against her.

BLB "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has judged for you the judgment against her."

AICNT Rejoice over her, O heaven, and {the saints, [and the][fn] apostles and the prophets},[fn] because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”

18:20, and the: Absent from some manuscripts. C(04) TR

18:20, the saints and the apostles and the prophets: Later manuscripts read “you holy apostles and prophets.” C(04)

OEB Rejoice over her, heaven, and people of Christ, and apostles, and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!

WEBBE “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets, for God has judged your judgement on her.”

WMBB “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you holy ones, emissaries, and prophets, for God has judged your judgement on her.”

NET (Rejoice over her, O heaven,
⇔ and you saints and apostles and prophets,
⇔ for God has pronounced judgment against her on your behalf!)

LSV Be glad over her, O Heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, because God judged your judgment of her!”

FBV Celebrate what's happened to her, heaven and believers and apostles and prophets, for God has condemned her as she condemned you.”

TCNT Rejoice over her, O heaven,
⇔ and you [fn]saints, apostles, and prophets,
⇔ for God has given judgment for you against her.”

18:20 saints, apostles, ¦ holy apostles TR

T4T Then someone spoke from heaven saying, “All you who live in heaven, rejoice over what has happened to the cities represented by Babylon! You who are God’s people, including you apostles, you ◄prophets/who speak messages that come directly from God►, rejoice, because God has justly punished the people of those cities because they acted in an evil way toward you!”

LEB • Rejoice over her, heaven and the saints and the apostles and the prophets,
• because God has pronounced your judgment on her!”

BBE Be glad over her, heaven, and you saints, and Apostles, and prophets; because she has been judged by God on your account.

Moff O heaven, rejoice over her!
⇔ Saints, apostles, prophets, rejoice!
⇔ For God has avenged you on her now."

Wymth Rejoice over her, O Heaven, and you saints and Apostles and Prophets; for God has taken vengeance upon her because of you."

ASV Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.

DRA Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.

YLT 'Be glad over her, O heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, because God did judge your judgment of her!'

Drby Rejoice over her, heaven, and [ye] saints and apostles and prophets; for [fn]God has judged your judgment upon her.

18.20 Elohim

RV Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.
(Rejoice over her, thou/you heaven, and ye/you_all saints, and ye/you_all apostles, and ye/you_all prophets; for God hath/has judged your judgement on her. )

SLT Rejoice over her, O heaven, and the holy sent, and the prophets; for God judged your judgment of her.

Wbstr Rejoice over her thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

KJB-1769 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
(Rejoice over her, thou/you heaven, and ye/you_all holy apostles and prophets; for God hath/has avenged you on her. )

KJB-1611 Reioyce ouer her thou heauen, and ye holy Apostles and Prophets, for God hath auenged you on her.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps Reioyce ouer her thou heauen, and ye holy apostles and prophetes: for God hath geuen your iudgement on her.
(Rejoice over her thou/you heaven, and ye/you_all holy apostles and prophets: for God hath/has given your judgement on her.)

Gnva O heauen, reioyce of her, and ye holy Apostles and Prophets: for God hath punished her to be reuenged on her for your sakes.
(Oh heaven, rejoice of her, and ye/you_all holy Apostles and Prophets: for God hath/has punished her to be revenged on her for your sakes. )

Cvdl Reioyce ouer her thou heaue, and ye holy Apostles, and prophetes: for God hath geuen youre iudgmet on her.
(Rejoice over her thou/you heaven, and ye/you_all holy Apostles, and prophets: for God hath/has given your(pl) judgement on her.)

TNT Reioyce over her thou heven and the holy Apostles and prophetes: for god hath geven youre iudgment on her.
(Rejoice over her thou/you heaven and the holy Apostles and prophets: for god hath/has given your(pl) judgement on her. )

Wycl Heuene, and hooli apostlis, and prophetis, make ye ful out ioye on it, for God hath demed youre dom of it.
(Heuene, and holy apostles, and prophets, make ye/you_all full out joy on it, for God hath/has judged your(pl) judgement of it.)

Luth Freue dich über sie, Himmel und ihr heiligen Apostel und Propheten! Denn GOtt hat euer Urteil an ihr gerichtet.
(Freue you/yourself above they/she/them, heaven and you(pl)/their/her holy apostles and prophet(s)! Because God has your(pl) verdict at/to you(pl)/their/her directed.)

ClVg Exsulta super eam cælum, et sancti apostoli, et prophetæ: quoniam judicavit Deus judicium vestrum de illa.[fn]
(Exsulta over her the_sky, and holy apostles, and the_prophets: since/because judged God judgement of_you from/about that. )

18.20 Exsultate super eam. Postquam prædixit hanc damnationem futuram impiis, monet bonos exsultare, ut concordent divino judicio; vel quia, his damnatis, sequitur eorum remuneratio.

18.20 Exsultate over her. After predicted this damnation future wicked, advises goods exsultare, as concordent divine judgement; or because, his damnatis, follows their remuneratio.

UGNT εὐφραίνου ἐπ’ αὐτῇ, οὐρανέ, καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι, καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι, καὶ οἱ προφῆται, ὅτι ἔκρινεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς.
(eufrainou ep’ autaʸ, ourane, kai hoi hagioi, kai hoi apostoloi, kai hoi profaʸtai, hoti ekrinen ho Theos to krima humōn ex autaʸs.)

SBL-GNT Εὐφραίνου ἐπʼ αὐτῇ, οὐρανέ, καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται, ὅτι ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς.
(Eufrainou epʼ autaʸ, ourane, kai hoi hagioi kai hoi apostoloi kai hoi profaʸtai, hoti ekrinen ho theos to krima humōn ex autaʸs.)

RP-GNT Εὐφραίνου ἐπ' αὐτῇ, οὐρανέ, καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι, καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι, καὶ οἱ προφῆται, ὅτι ἔκρινεν ὁ θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς.
(Eufrainou ep' autaʸ, ourane, kai hoi hagioi, kai hoi apostoloi, kai hoi profaʸtai, hoti ekrinen ho theos to krima humōn ex autaʸs.)

TC-GNT Εὐφραίνου ἐπ᾽ [fn]αὐτῇ, οὐρανέ,
⇔ καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι, [fn]καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι, καὶ οἱ προφῆται,
⇔ ὅτι ἔκρινεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς.
(Eufrainou ep autaʸ, ourane,
⇔ kai hoi hagioi, kai hoi apostoloi, kai hoi profaʸtai,
⇔ hoti ekrinen ho Theos to krima humōn ex autaʸs. )

18:20 αυτη 𝔐^C,K [66.8%] ¦ αυτην 𝔐^A TR [30.9%]

18:20 και οι 𝔐^A−,C,K [77.4%] ¦ — 𝔐^A+ TR [19.4%]

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 18:1–24: Announcements/Messages about Babylon

In this section, three heavenly beings each announce something about Babylon. The first announcement is that the city is destroyed. Her riches and prosperity have been taken away.

The second announcement is that God’s people should leave Babylon before God destroys her. It also describes how kings and others mourn over the destroyed city.

The third announcement is that Babylon will never be built again.

Other examples of headings for this section are:

An angel announced that Babylon was destroyed, and some groups are sad

Announcements about the destruction of Babylon

Various people talk about Babylon

18:20a–b

There are three ways to interpret who spoke this verse:

The voice from heaven (18:4–19) continued speaking. The voice stopped telling what the ship captains and the others said in 18:19. For example:
¹⁹…in one hour she has been laid waste!’ ²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.” (NASB) (NASB, GW, NJB)
John spoke. The ship captains and the others stopped speaking in 18:19. For example:
¹⁹…And in one hour she has lost everything!”
²⁰Be glad, heaven, because of her destruction! Be glad, God’s people and the apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her for what she did to you! (GNT) (GNT, NLT, NET, REB)
The ship captains and the others (18:17b) continued speaking. For example:
¹⁹…In one hour she has been laid waste.
²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven, saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” (RSV) (BSB, RSV, NIV, NABRE, CEV, NCV, ESV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).Beale (page 915), Smalley (page 460), and Kistemaker (page 500) support interpretation (1). Lenski (page 528) says it is not John. Osbourne (page 634) indicates with punctuation in his translation that it is not the seafarers. For example, in 12:12 a voice from heaven commanded heaven to rejoice. Interpretation (3) is unlikely because it would indicate that the ship captains and the others would weep and mourn the destruction of Babylon and then praise God. Interpretation (2) is unlikely because it is unlikely that John would command heaven to rejoice.

The voice from heaven spoken all of 18:4–20 but John has not referred to it since 18:4. It has also quoted what others have said.

In some languages it is not clear who is speaking here. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

Explain who is speaking in your translation. For example:
The voice from heaven continued and said, “Rejoice…
The voice from heaven concluded, “Rejoice…
Explain who is speaking in a footnote. An example footnote is:
The voice from heaven continued speaking here.

18:20a

Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets,

¶ O heaven, believers, apostles, and prophets, rejoice regarding what happened to her,
¶ The voice from heaven continued and said, “Everyone in heaven, God’s people, apostles, and his spokespeople! Rejoice that she has been destroyed/ruined!

Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets: There is a textual issue in 18:20a: (1) Many early Greek manuscripts have the text the saints and the apostles (BSB, RSV, NIV, GNT, NJB, NASB, NLT, GW, CEV, NET, NABRE, REB, ESV, NCV). (2) Some later Greek manuscripts have the text the holy apostles (KJV only). It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Greek NT supports it. The Greek clause is literally “Rejoice over her, heaven and saints and apostles and prophets!” The phrase telling who is being addressed (heaven…saints and apostles and prophets) occurs after what is said to them. In some languages it is more natural to say who are being spoken to first. For example:

O heaven, saints, apostles, and prophets, rejoice over her!

Rejoice over her: This clause indicates that heaven and the others are to rejoice regarding what happened to Babylon. God has judged her and punished her, which was the right thing to do. Other ways to translate this clause are:

Rejoice over her fate (NLT)

Rejoice about how God has judged her

O heaven: This phrase refers to all those in heaven. In some languages it is not natural to speak directly to a place. If that is true in your language, you may need to refer to the people there. For example:

All those in heaven

Everyone in heaven

saints: The Greek word that the BSB translates as saints means “holy ones.” It refers to all believers. For example:

God’s people (GNT)

See how you translated this word in 5:8 or 17:6.

apostles and prophets: These apostles and prophets are saints/believers who have the gift of apostleship or prophecy.

apostles: In general, the Greek word that the BSB translates as apostles refers to those sent with a message. They are representatives or messengers of a higher authority. Here it refers to those sent to other cities with the gospel of Jesus (as were Barnabas and Saul in Acts 13:1–3).

Some ways to translate this word are:

Translate the meaning. For example:
representatives
special messengers
sent-people If this word is too general, you may need to add the words “of Jesus Christ” to show from whom they got their authority. An example is:
representatives of Jesus Christ
Use the major language word or phrase.

See how you translated this word in 2:2.

prophets: A prophet is a person to whom God gives a message. The message (often called a “prophecy”) may include a vision, as in Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 8. A message, called a prophecy, may reveal something about past events, current events, or future events. The prophet speaks God’s message to the people or writes it down for their use. See how you translated this word in 2:20 or 16:6.

18:20b

because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.

because God has judged her because of what she did to you.”
For God has judged her worthy of death just as she judged you in the same way.”

because: This conjunction introduces the reason that heaven and God’s people should be glad. For example:

for (RSV)

But in some languages it is necessary or more natural not to translate the conjunction. Do this if the context implies in your language that 18:20b is the reason that heaven and God’s people should be glad.

God has pronounced for you His judgment against her: This clause indicates that God had judged and punished Babylon for persecuting the people of God. Other ways to translate this clause are:

God has condemned her for what she did to you! (GNT)

God has punished her because of what she did to you (NCV)

pronounced…judgment: The words pronounced…judgment indicates that God looked at the facts and then decided that Babylon was guilty of wrongdoing.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks

εὐφραίνου

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εὐφραίνου ἐπʼ αὐτῇ οὐρανέ καί οἱ ἅγιοι καί οἱ ἀπόστολοι καί οἱ προφῆται ὅτι ἔκρινεν ὁ Θεός τό κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς)

The sea workers finish speaking at the end of verse 19. Someone else begins speaking here. It would be appropriate to show this in your translation by using whatever punctuation or convention your language uses to show the end of one quotation and the beginning of another.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

εὐφραίνου

In this verse, someone breaks into John’s narrative of his vision to speak directly to the audience in heaven and on earth. ULT puts the verse in parentheses to show this. There may be a comparable convention in your language that you can use in your translation. You can also state explicitly who is speaking, as UST does. That speaker could be: (1) the voice from heaven that spoke in [18:4–8](../18/04.md) or another voice from heaven. (2) Jesus, as in [16:15](../16/15.md). (3) John himself.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / yousingular

εὐφραίνου

The implied “you” in the imperative Rejoice is singular here because this imperative addresses heaven. The pronoun you is plural because it addresses the saints and apostles and prophets. So use a singular imperative and a plural pronoun in your translation if your language marks that distinction.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

οὐρανέ

heaven

The speaker is referring to everyone who lives in heaven by association with heaven itself. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [all of you who live in heaven]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἔκρινεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς

judged ¬the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Εὐφραίνου ἐπʼ αὐτῇ οὐρανέ καί οἱ ἅγιοι καί οἱ ἀπόστολοι καί οἱ προφῆται ὅτι ἔκρινεν ὁ Θεός τό κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς)

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of judgment, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [God has judged her for what she did to you]

Note 6 topic: writing-poetry

ἔκρινεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ κρίμα ὑμῶν ἐξ αὐτῆς

The speaker is using a construction in which a verb and its object come from the same root. You may be able to use the same construction in your language to express the meaning here. Alternatively, your language may have its own way of describing this. Alternate translation: [she deserved to be judged for what she did to you, and God has indeed judged her]

Parallel REV 18:20

Section 18:1–24: Announcements/Messages about Babylon

18:20a–b

18:20a

18:20b