Revelation, 18

1. After this, I saw another angel come down from heaven, with great authority given to him; the earth shone with his glory.

1. After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor.

2. At the top of his voice he shouted, 'Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, and has become the haunt of devils and a lodging for every foul spirit and dirty, loathsome bird.

2. And he called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird;

3. All the nations have drunk deep of the wine of her prostitution; every king on the earth has prostituted himself with her, and every merchant grown rich through her debauchery.'

3. for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness."

4. Another voice spoke from heaven; I heard it say, 'Come out, my people, away from her, so that you do not share in her crimes and have the same plagues to bear.

4. Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;

5. Her sins have reached up to the sky, and God has her crimes in mind: treat her as she has treated others.

5. for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

6. She must be paid double the amount she exacted. She is to have a doubly strong cup of her own mixture.

6. Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed.

7. Every one of her pomps and orgies is to be matched by a torture or an agony. I am enthroned as queen, she thinks; I am no widow and will never know bereavement.

7. As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning. Since in her heart she says, `A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,'

8. For that, in one day, the plagues will fall on her: disease and mourning and famine. She will be burned to the ground. The Lord God who has condemned her is mighty.'

8. so shall her plagues come in a single day, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she shall be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her."

9. 'There will be mourning and weeping for her by the kings of the earth who have prostituted themselves with her and held orgies with her. They see the smoke as she burns,

9. And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and were wanton with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning;

10. while they keep at a safe distance through fear of her anguish. They will say: Mourn, mourn for this great city, Babylon, so powerful a city, in one short hour your doom has come upon you.

10. they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! alas! thou great city, thou mighty city, Babylon! In one hour has thy judgment come."

11. 'There will be weeping and distress over her among all the traders of the earth when no one is left to buy their cargoes of goods;

11. And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more,

12. their stocks of gold and silver, jewels and pearls, linen and purple and silks and scarlet; all the sandalwood, every piece in ivory or fine wood, in bronze or iron or marble;

12. cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble,

13. the cinnamon and spices, the myrrh and ointment and incense; wine, oil, flour and corn; their stocks of cattle, sheep, horses and chariots, their slaves and their human cargo.

13. cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.

14. 'All the fruits you had set your hearts on have failed you; gone for ever, never to return again, is your life of magnificence and ease.

14. "The fruit for which thy soul longed has gone from thee, and all thy dainties and thy splendor are lost to thee, never to be found again!"

15. 'The traders who had made a fortune out of her will be standing at a safe distance through fear of her anguish, mourning and weeping.

15. The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

16. They will be saying: Mourn, mourn for this great city; for all the linen and purple and scarlet that you wore, for all your finery of gold and jewels and pearls;

16. "Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, bedecked with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!

17. your huge riches are all destroyed within a single hour.' All the captains and seafaring men, sailors and all those who make a living from the sea kept a safe distance,

17. In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste." And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off

18. watching the smoke as she burned, and crying out, 'Has there ever been a city as great as this!'

18. and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great city?"

19. They threw dust on their heads and said, with tears and groans: 'Mourn, mourn for this great city whose lavish living has made a fortune for every owner of a sea-going ship, ruined within a single hour.

19. And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out, "Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! In one hour she has been laid waste.

20. 'Now heaven, celebrate her downfall, and all you saints, apostles and prophets: God has given judgement for you against her.'

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

21. Then a powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone, and as he hurled it into the sea, he said, 'That is how the great city of Babylon is going to be hurled down, never to be seen again.

21. Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and shall be found no more;

22. Never again in you will be heard the song of harpists and minstrels, the music of flute and trumpet; never again will craftsmen of every skill be found in you or the sound of the handmill be heard;

22. and the sound of harpers and minstrels, of flute players and trumpeters, shall be heard in thee no more; and a craftsman of any craft shall be found in thee no more; and the sound of the millstone shall be heard in thee no more;

23. never again will shine the light of the lamp in you, never again will be heard in you the voices of bridegroom and bride. Your traders were the princes of the earth, all the nations were led astray by your sorcery.

23. and the light of a lamp shall shine in thee no more; and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall be heard in thee no more; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, and all nations were deceived by thy sorcery.

24. In her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and all the blood that was ever shed on earth.'

24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth."