Revelation 18

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the whole earth was lit up by his glory.

1And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

Note"The earth was lightened with his glory" means the earth was lit up by his brightness. In 1611 "lightened" meant illuminated, not made lighter in weight.

2He called out with a strong, powerful voice: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a home for demons, a place where every unclean spirit lives, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird."

2And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

NoteBabylon was the empire that destroyed Jerusalem and carried its people into exile six centuries before John wrote. By his day Jewish and Christian writers used the name as a coded label for whatever great power then ruled and oppressed them, most often Rome. The doubled "is fallen, is fallen" is a Hebrew way of announcing a certainty; the verb is past tense even though the fall is still to come, a standard prophetic device. KJV "devils" translates the Greek word for demons, spirits, not the Devil himself. "Unclean" is a ritual term meaning unfit for God's use or for the table, not dirty; the unclean birds are scavengers such as vultures and owls, which Jewish law forbade as food. The Greek word behind "cage" can mean either a prison or a haunt where such creatures roost, and translators differ.

3"For all the nations have drunk the wine of her raging sexual sin. The kings of the earth joined her in that sin, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from her endless luxury."

3For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

NoteKJV "fornication" covers sexual immorality of any kind. Israel's prophets routinely described a city or nation that betrayed its god or sold itself to foreign powers as an unfaithful wife or a prostitute, and that older image is running underneath this whole chapter. The Greek word rendered "wrath" here can also mean burning passion, so the phrase may be the wine of her raging lust or the wine of the anger her immorality brings; both readings are ancient. "Waxed rich" simply means grew rich, and "delicacies" means self-indulgent luxury rather than fine food.

4Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you do not share in her sins and so that none of her plagues fall on you."

4And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Note"Plagues" in older English means blows or disasters of any kind, not only disease. "Come out of her, my people" repeats a call the prophets made to Jews living in the historical Babylon, telling them to leave the city before its judgment fell.

5"For her sins are piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered the wrong she has done."

5For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

6"Pay her back the way she paid others. Give her double for what she has done. In the cup she mixed for others, mix her a double amount."

6Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

Note"Reward" in 1611 meant simply to pay back, whether the payment was a kindness or a punishment. Wine in the ancient world was normally mixed with water and with spices before serving, so "the cup which she hath filled" pictures a drink she mixed for others now being mixed at double strength for her.

7"She gave herself glory and lived in great luxury, so give her that much torment and grief. In her heart she says, 'I sit here like a queen. I am not a widow, and I will never grieve.'"

7How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Note"Lived deliciously" means lived in luxury and self-indulgence; it has nothing to do with taste. A widow in this world had lost not only a husband but her legal protector and her standing, and was proverbially poor and defenseless, so "I sit a queen, and am no widow" is a boast of security and power. The line echoes a taunt against the old Babylon in Isaiah 47.

8"So in a single day her plagues will come: death, grief, and hunger. She will be burned up completely with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is strong."

8Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

9The kings of the earth who joined her in sexual sin and shared her luxury will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke rising from her burning.

9And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

10They will stand far off, afraid of her torment, and say: "How terrible, how terrible for that great city, Babylon, that mighty city! In a single hour your judgment has come."

10Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Note"Alas, alas" translates a cry of grief and dread, the sound mourners made. "One hour" here means a single brief span of time rather than sixty minutes exactly; the point is the speed of the collapse.

11The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their goods any more:

11And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

12goods of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet cloth; every kind of citron wood, and every kind of object made of ivory, of costly wood, of bronze, of iron, and of marble;

12The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,

NoteThis is a cargo list of the luxury trade of the Roman Mediterranean. "Fine linen" is the costly bleached linen worn by the rich and by priests. "Purple" was dye extracted a drop at a time from murex sea snails and was so expensive it marked out officials and royalty. "Scarlet" was a red dye made from crushed insects, also costly. "Thyine wood" is citron wood from North Africa, whose mottled grain made tabletops that sold for the price of an estate. "Brass" in KJV always means bronze; true brass was not in common use. "Vessels" means manufactured objects generally, not only containers.

13cinnamon, spices, perfumes, incense, and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots; and slaves, that is, human lives.

13And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Note"Odours" means aromatic spices. Frankincense is a fragrant resin tapped from trees in southern Arabia and burned as incense, expensive because of the distance it traveled. "Beasts" here means cattle. The word behind "chariots" is not the war chariot but a four wheeled traveling carriage of Gallic design, a rich man's vehicle. The final pair, "slaves, and souls of men," renders a Greek phrase that reads literally "bodies, and souls of men"; "bodies" was ordinary trade jargon for slaves, and the second phrase either repeats it in blunter words or adds the human lives sold along with the cargo. Translators divide on which, and the harshness is deliberate either way.

14They will say: "The fruit your soul craved has gone from you. Everything rich and fine is gone from you, and you will never find it again."

14And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

Note"Lusted after" in 1611 meant simply longed for or craved, with no necessarily sexual sense. "Dainty and goodly" means rich and splendid, describing costly things rather than delicate ones.

15The merchants who sold these things and grew rich from her will stand far off, afraid of her torment. They will weep and mourn,

15The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

16and say: "How terrible, how terrible for that great city! She was dressed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and covered with gold, precious stones, and pearls!"

16And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!

Note"Decked" means adorned or decorated. The city is pictured as a woman dressed in the very merchandise the merchants have just listed.

17"In a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!" And every ship's captain, everyone traveling by sea, the sailors, and all who make their living from the sea stood far off.

17For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

Note"Come to nought" means brought to nothing, destroyed. "All the company in ships" translates a phrase that may mean passengers or those who sail along a coastal route; ancient shipping ran mostly within sight of land.

18When they saw the smoke rising from her burning they cried out, "What city was ever like this great city?"

18And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

19They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning: "How terrible, how terrible for that great city! Everyone who had ships at sea grew rich from her costly goods. In a single hour she has been left in ruins."

19And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

NoteThrowing dust or ashes on the head was a standard public gesture of grief and shock throughout the ancient Near East, done alongside tearing one's clothes and loud wailing. "By reason of her costliness" means because of her wealth and extravagant spending.

20Rejoice over her, heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets! God has paid her back for what she did to you.

20Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

Note"Avenged you on her" renders a Greek courtroom idiom that reads roughly "God has judged your judgment out of her," meaning he has tried the case and given the verdict in your favor. "Apostles" means those sent out as authorized messengers, the term used for the founding emissaries of the early church. KJV reads "holy apostles and prophets"; many Greek manuscripts read instead "saints and apostles and prophets," listing three groups, and translations differ accordingly. "Saints" in this book means God's holy people generally, all believers, not an honored few.

21Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and threw it into the sea. He said, "This is how the great city Babylon will be thrown down, with violence, and she will never be found again."

21And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

NoteA millstone is the heavy circular stone used to grind grain, often several feet across and turned by a donkey; a large one weighed hundreds of pounds and would sink instantly and irretrievably. Performing a message as a physical act rather than speaking it was a recognized prophetic method, and this one deliberately repeats Jeremiah 51, where a scroll weighted with a stone was thrown into the Euphrates to signal Babylon's fall.

22"The sound of harp players and singers, of flute players and trumpet players, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will be found in you again. The sound of a millstone grinding grain will never be heard in you again."

22And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;

Note"Pipers" are flute players. A millstone turning was the ordinary background noise of every inhabited town, heard each morning as the day's grain was ground, so its silence is the sound of a place with no one left living in it.

23"The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voices of a bridegroom and his bride will never be heard in you again. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, and all the nations were fooled by your magic spells."

23And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Note"Candle" in KJV nearly always means an oil lamp; wax candles were rare. Lamplight at night and the noise of a wedding party were the two commonest signs that a town was alive, and prophets paired them the same way when announcing a city's ruin. "Sorceries" translates the Greek word pharmakeia, which covered spells, potions and drugs together, and was also used loosely for any seductive manipulation.

24And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of God's holy people, and of all who had been killed on the earth.

24And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.