Chapter 18

After these things I saw another angel coming down from Heaven, armed with great power. The earth shone with his splendor,

and with a mighty voice he cried out, saying, 'Great Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and has become a home for demons and a stronghold for every kind of foul spirit and for every kind of foul and hateful bird.

For all the nations have drunk the wine of the anger provoked by her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich through her excessive luxury.'

Then I heard another voice from Heaven, which said, 'Come out of her, My people, that you may not become partakers in her sins, nor receive a share of her plagues.

For her sins are piled up to the sky, and God has called to mind her unrighteous deeds.

Give back to her as she has given; repay her in accordance with her doings, twice as much; in the bowl that she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.

She has freely glorified herself and revelled in luxury; equally freely administer torment to her, and woe. For in her heart she boasts, saying, 'I sit enthroned as Queen: no widow am I: I shall never know sorrow.'

'For this reason calamities shall come thick upon her on a single day--death and sorrow and famine--and she shall be burned to the ground. For strong is the Lord God who has judged her.

The kings of the earth who have committed fornication with her, and have revelled in luxury, shall weep aloud and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,

while they stand afar off because of their terror at her heavy punishment, and say, 'Alas, alas, thou great city, O Babylon, the mighty city! For in one short hour thy doom has come!'

And the merchants of the earth weep aloud and lament over her, because now there is no sale for their cargoes--

cargoes of gold and silver, of jewels and pearls, of fine linen, purple and silk, and of scarlet stuff; all kinds of rare woods, and all kinds of goods in ivory and in very costly wood, in bronze, steel and marble.

Also cinnamon and amomum; odors to burn as incense or for perfume; frankincense, wine, oil; fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep; horses and carriages and slaves; and the lives of men.

The dainties that thy soul longed for are gone from thee, and all thine elegance and splendor have perished, and never again shall they be found.

Those who traded in these things, who grew wealthy through her, will stand afar off, struck with terror at her punishment,

weeping aloud and sorrowing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, for this great city, which was brilliantly arrayed in fine linen, and purple and scarlet stuff, and beautified with gold, jewels and pearls;

because in one short hour all this great wealth has been laid waste!' And every shipmaster and every passenger by sea and the crews and all who ply their trade on the sea,

stood afar off, and cried aloud when they saw the smoke of her burning. And they said, 'What city is like this great city?'

And they threw dust upon their heads, and cried out, weeping aloud and sorrowing. 'Alas, alas,' they said, 'for this great city, in which, through her vast wealth, the owners of all the ships on the sea have grown rich; because in one short hour she has been laid waste!'

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

Then a single angel of great strength took a stone which resembled a huge millstone, and hurled it into the sea, saying, 'So shall Babylon, that great city, be violently hurled down and never again be found.

No harp or song, no flute or trumpet, shall ever again be heard in thee; no craftsman of any kind shall ever again be found in thee; nor shall the grinding of the mill ever again be heard in thee.

Never again shall the light of a lamp shine in thee, and never again shall the voice of a bridegroom or of a bride be heard in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth, and with the magic which thou didst practise all nations were led astray.

And in her was found the blood of Prophets and of God's people and of all who had been put to death on the earth.'