Revelation 18
The end of Babylon
1 After these things happened, I saw another angel. He was coming down from heaven. He had great authority. He was beautiful and he shone brightly. He gave light to the whole world. 2 He shouted with a very loud voice:
‘God has destroyed the great city of Babylon!
She has become a place where demons live.
She is a home for every disgusting spirit.
She is a home for every unclean bird.
She is a home for every unclean and disgusting animal.
3 She has been like a prostitute who makes men become drunk.
Then she leads them to have sex in a wrong way.
She has caused people from every nation to turn away from God.
It is like all the kings of the earth have had sex with that bad woman.
All the traders of the earth have become rich,
because she has bought things from them to enjoy a wicked life.’
4 Then I heard another voice which spoke from heaven. It said:
‘My people, leave the city! Come out!
Do not do the bad things that the people of that city have done.
Then you will not receive the terrible troubles that God sends to them.
5 They have done very many bad things.
Their sins have reached as high as heaven.
God has remembered to punish them.
6 Yes, punish the people of that city.
Do to them the same things that they have done to others.
Punish them with twice the bad things that they themselves have done.
She caused people to drink pain from her cup.
Now make her drink twice as much pain for herself!
7 She liked to receive honour.
She bought expensive things to enjoy a wicked life.
So now give her the trouble and pain that she deserves.
She has said to herself, “I rule people like a queen.
I do not live like a widow.
I will never need to be sad.”
8 Because she speaks like that,
she will receive many troubles in one single day.
Her people will become very ill.
They will be very sad.
They will have no food to eat.
Fire will destroy the city,
The Lord God is powerful.
So he will punish her with these troubles.’
9 When all that happens, the kings on the earth will be very sad. They enjoyed the bad things that people did in that city. They had many expensive things so that they were happy. Now they will see the smoke from the fire that burns the city. As a result, they will cry and they will weep. 10 They will stand a long way from the city because they are afraid. They do not want to suffer in the same way. They will say,
‘Terrible trouble has come to you, Babylon!
Great city! Powerful city! It is very bad for you!
In one single hour God has destroyed you!’
11 The traders of this world will also be very sad. They will weep because nobody will buy their things any more. 12 They sold many expensive things like these:
Things made from gold and silver.Valuable stones and pearls.Good linen and other kinds of expensive cloth that is red or purple.Things made from wood that has a nice smell.Many different things that are made from ivory.Many kinds of things that people had made from expensive wood, from different metals and from stone. 13 Different kinds of spice and incense, like myrrh and frankincense.Wine, olive oil, expensive flour and wheat.Cows and sheep.Horses and chariots.Human slaves. 14 The people who sold these things will say to the city, ‘You have now lost all the good things that you wanted so much. You have lost all those expensive things that made you beautiful. You will never have them again.’
15 The traders had become rich because of the city. But now they will stand a long way from the city because they are afraid. They do not want to suffer in the same way themselves. They will weep and they will be very sad. 16 They will say,
‘Bad trouble has come to you, Babylon!
Great city! It is very bad for you!
You wore beautiful clothes that were made from good linen.
You wore bright things that made you look beautiful.
You shone with gold, valuable stones and pearls.
17 But in one single hour God has destroyed all those valuable things.’
All the sailors and the people who travel on ships will also be sad. They include every ship's captain, and everyone who works on ships on the sea. They will stand a long way from the city. 18 They will see the smoke from the fire that burns the city. Then they will shout, ‘There is no other city like this great city!’ 19 They will throw dirt from the ground on their heads because they are so sad. They will weep and they will shout,
‘Bad trouble has come to you, Babylon!
Great city! It is very bad for you!
Everyone who had ships on the sea became rich because of you.
You used your money to buy their expensive things.
But in one single hour God has destroyed that city.’
20 Yes, you who live in heaven, be happy!
Be happy because God has punished Babylon!
God's people and his apostles and his prophets, be happy!
God has punished the city because of what she did to you.
21 Then a powerful angel picked up a very big, heavy stone. He threw it into the sea. He said,
‘God will throw you down, Babylon!
You are a great city, but God will throw you down like this stone.
Nobody will ever see you again!
22 Nobody will ever hear music in the city again.
Nobody will sing there.
Nobody will make music with harps, or with flutes, or with trumpets.
There will never be workers who make things in the city.
Nobody will ever hear the sound of people who make flour again.
23 No light from people's lamps will ever shine in the city again.
Nobody will ever hear the happy voices of a man and a woman when they marry.
Your traders were the most powerful people on the earth.
You used your magic to deceive people from all nations.
24 Your people killed God's people and his prophets.
Their blood lies on the ground in the city.
The blood of everyone on earth that people have killed is also there.
This shows that you are guilty of their murder.’
18:24God completely destroys the Devil's city, which John calls ‘Babylon’. Many people became rich and powerful because of that city. They thought that money and power were more important than God. But nobody who serves the Devil will be happy in the end. Nobody can be really happy unless they serve God.
