After all this I saw another angel come down from
heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor. He gave a mighty
shout, "Babylon the Great is fallen - that great city
is fallen! She has become the hideout of demons and evil spirits, a nest for filthy
buzzards and a den for dreadful beasts.
For all the nations have drunk the wine of her
passionate immorality. The rulers of the world have committed adultery with her, and
[businessmen] throughout the world have grown rich as a result of her luxurious
living."
Then I heard another voice calling from heaven,
"Come away from her, my people; do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished
with her. For her sins are piled high as heaven, and God is ready to judge her for her
[crimes]. Do to her as she has done to you, and more give double penalty for all
her evil deeds.
She brewed many a cup of woe for others
give twice as much to her. She has lived in luxury and pleasure match it now with
torments and with sorrows.
She boasts, I am queen upon my throne. I am
no helpless widow. I will not experience sorrow.
Therefore the sorrows of death and mourning and
famine shall overtake her in a single day, and she shall be utterly consumed by fire, for
mighty is the Lord who judges her."
And the world leaders, who took part in her
immoral acts and enjoyed her great luxury, will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising
from her charred remains. They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment.
They will cry out, "How terrible, how terrible for Babylon, that mighty city! In one single moment God's judgment came
on her."
The merchants of the world will weep and mourn
for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. She [was their biggest customer for]
gold and silver, precious stones, pearls, finest linens, purple silks, scarlet cloth; and
every kind of perfumed wood, and ivory goods and most expensive wooden carvings, and brass
and iron and incense, ointment and frankincense, wine, olive oil, and fine flour, wheat,
cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and slaves and even traded in human lives.
"All the fancy things you loved so much are
gone," they cry. "The [dainty] luxuries, and splendor that you prized so much
will never be yours again.
They are gone forever."
[And so] the merchants who became wealthy by
selling her these things shall stand at a distance, [fearing danger to themselves],
weeping and crying, "How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
She was so beautiful like a woman clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens,
decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls!
In one single moment, all the wealth of the
city is gone!
And all the ship owners and captains of the
merchant ships and their crews will stand [a long way off]. They will weep as they watch
the smoke ascend, and they will say, "Where in all the world is there another
city such as this?"
And they will throw dust on their heads in their
sorrow and say, "How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
She made us all rich from her great wealth. And now in a single hour all is
gone
"
But you, O heaven, rejoice over her fate. And
you, [O children of God and] the prophets and the apostles! For at last God has given
judgment against her for you.
Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder as large
as a great millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted, "Babylon, that great
city, will be thrown down as violently as I have
thrown away this stone, and she will disappear forever.
Never again will the sound of music be there
no more [pianos], songs, [saxophones] or trumpets.
No industry of any kind will ever again exist
there, and there will be no more milling of grain.
Dark, dark will be her nights; not even a lamp in
a window will ever be seen again.
No more joyous wedding bells and happy voices of
the bridegrooms and the brides.
Because her [salesmen], who were the greatest in
the world, deceived the nations with her sorceries.
In her streets the blood of the prophets was
spilled. She was the one who slaughtered God's people all over the world."