Babylon Has Fallen
1Then I saw one of the leading angels—someone with a lot of authority—come down from heaven. His awesome presence lit up the earth. It glowed. 2He spoke in a loud and commanding voice,“Babylon [1] has fallen! The great city is gone!
Good riddance. She was home to demons
and a place of business for every evil spirit
and for every dirty bird and repulsive beast not fit to eat. [2]
Kings of the world played by her perverted rules.
Business people did too. They got rich in the process
by exploiting her insatiable desire for luxury.”
Get Out of Town
4I heard another voice from heaven.“Get out of town, people.
Don’t get sucked into her sins
and suffer the same consequences she’ll face.
God remembers her crimes.
6Give her a taste of the payback she gave others.
Twice as much.
Serve it up in the same cup she served to others.
Make it a double.
7As much as she lived it up in luxury,
give her an equal encounter with suffering and grief.
After all, she’s the one who said ‘I’m the queen.
I’m no widow in mourning—and never will be.’
8Because she said this, disaster will come in a single day.
Death. Grief. Drought.
She’s going to flame up and burn.
The mighty Lord God said so in the judgment he made.”
Kings Watch the City Burn
9Kings who got down and dirty with her—and rich along the way—are going to cry and scream when they see her burning beneath the smoke. 10They’ll stand far away, horrified by the suffering they’ll witness. They’ll scream,“Oh no! It can’t be!
This was a great city! Babylon! It was a powerful city!
And in a single moment, it’s gone! Judgment Day!”
International Business Takes a Hit
11Business people will cry. They’ll mourn her death and their loss. No one’s left to buy their products: 12gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, exquisite linen of purple and scarlet, furnishings made from citron [3] wood, anything made of ivory or expensive wood, bronze, iron, marble, 13cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, finely milled flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and slaves in a herd of human livestock. 14The business people will say,“Everything you coveted is gone,
every extravagance, from dainty to huge.
Gone forever.”
“Oh no! It can’t be! This was a great city.
She dressed in the finest linen
of the most expensive colors, purple and scarlet.
She shimmered in the lights of her gold, pearls, and jewels.
Ships Sail Past Her Ruins
17“In one fleeting moment, a single hour,
extravagant wealth crashes to zero.”
“Oh no! It can’t be! This was a great city.
Ships who made port there sailed away rich,
hulls loaded with a wedge of her wealth.
In one short moment, a single hour,
she’s brought down, destroyed.
all of you in heaven, apostles, prophets,
and God’s devoted people.
God has judged her and found her guilty
because of what she did to you.” 21Then I saw a powerful angel pick up a heavy stone, the size of a millstone used to grind grain into flour. He threw it into the sea and said,
“That’s what’s going to happen to Babylon.
She’s going down, violently.
She won’t be coming back.
Not ever.
No sound of harps, flutes, or trumpets.
Artisans gone too.
No sounds of the mill crunching grain.
Not ever.
23Her lamplight will never shine again.
Happy voices of brides and grooms, gone.
You’ll never hear them again.
Your business people were savviest on earth.
Your enchantments lured people from all over the world.
24She has blood on her hands.
Blood of prophets,
blood of God’s devoted ones,
and blood of people all over the world.”
