Babylon Is Destroyed
1Then I saw another angel coming down from heaven. This angel had much power. The angel’s glory made the earth bright.
2The angel shouted with a powerful voice: “ She is destroyed! The great city of Babylon is destroyed! She (Babylon) has become a home for demons.
3All the peoples of the earth have drunk the wine of her sexual sin and of {God’s} anger. The rulers of the earth sinned sexually with her, and the merchants
4Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “ Come out of that city, my people, so that you will not share in her sins. Then you will not get any of the bad things that will happen to her.
5That city’s sins are piled up as high as heaven. God has not forgotten the wrong things she has done.
6Give that city the same as she gave to others. Pay her back twice as much as she did. Prepare wine for her that is twice as strong as the wine she prepared for others.
7She (Babylon) gave herself much glory and rich living. Give her that much suffering and sadness. She says to herself, ‘I am a queen sitting {on my throne}. I am not a widow
8So these bad things will come to her in one day: death, sad crying, and great hunger. She will be destroyed by fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful.
9“The rulers of the earth who sinned sexually with her (Babylon) and shared her wealth will see the smoke from her burning. Then those rulers will cry and be sad because of her {death}.
10The rulers will be afraid of her suffering and stand far away. The rulers will say: ‘ Terrible! How terrible, O great city, O powerful city of Babylon! Your punishment came in one hour!’
11“And the merchants
12They sell gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen cloth, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet cloth, all kinds of citron wood, and all kinds of things made from ivory, expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble.
13Those merchants also sell cinnamon, spice, incense, frankincense, myrrh, wine, and olive oil; fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, and the bodies and souls of men. {The merchants will cry and say:}
14‘ {O Babylon,} the good things you wanted are gone from you. All your rich and fancy things have disappeared. You will never have those things again.’
15“The merchants
16They will say: ‘ Terrible! How terrible for the great city! She was dressed in fine linen; she wore purple and scarlet cloth. She was shining with gold, jewels, and pearls!
17All these riches have been destroyed in one hour!’ “Every sea captain, all the people who travel on ships, the sailors, and all the people who earn money from the sea stood far away from Babylon.
18They saw the smoke from her burning. They said loudly, ‘There was never a city like this great city!’
19They threw dust on their heads. They cried and were sad. They said loudly: ‘Terrible! How terrible for the great city! All the people who had ships on the sea became rich because of her wealth! But she has been destroyed in one hour!
20Be happy because of this, O heaven! Be happy, God’s holy people
21Then a powerful angel picked up a large rock. This rock was as big as a large millstone.
22The music of people playing harps
23The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voices of a bridegroom
24She (Babylon) is guilty of the blood (death) of the prophets,
<< Revelation 18 >>
