1: Following this I saw another Angel descend from Heaven. His authority was immense, his glory flooded earth with brightness,
2: his voice thunderous: Ruined, ruined, Great Babylon, ruined! A ghost town for demons is all that's left! A garrison of carrion spirits, garrison of loathsome, carrion birds.
3: All nations drank the wild wine of her whoring; kings of the earth went whoring with her; entrepreneurs made millions exploiting her.
4: Just then I heard another shout out of Heaven: Get out, my people, as fast as you can, so you don't get mixed up in her sins, so you don't get caught in her doom.
5: Her sins stink to high Heaven; God has remembered every evil she's done.
6: Give her back what she's given, double what she's doubled in her works, double the recipe in the cup she mixed;
7: Bring her flaunting and wild ways to torment and tears. Because she gloated, "I'm queen over all, and no widow, never a tear on my face,"
8: In one day, disasters will crush her--death, heartbreak, and famine--Then she'll be burned by fire, because God, the Strong God who judges her, has had enough.
9: "The kings of the earth will see the smoke of her burning, and they'll cry and carry on, the kings who went night after night to her brothel.
10: They'll keep their distance for fear they'll get burned, and they'll cry their lament: Doom, doom, the great city doomed! City of Babylon, strong city! In one hour it's over, your judgment come!
11: "The traders will cry and carry on because the bottom dropped out of business, no more market for their goods:
12: gold, silver, precious gems, pearls; fabrics of fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet; perfumed wood and vessels of ivory, precious woods, bronze, iron, and marble;
13: cinnamon and spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine and oil, flour and wheat; cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots. And slaves--their terrible traffic in human lives.
14: Everything you've lived for, gone! All delicate and delectable luxury, lost! Not a scrap, not a thread to be found!
15: "The traders who made millions off her kept their distance for fear of getting burned, and cried and carried on all the more:
16: Doom, doom, the great city doomed! Dressed in the latest fashions, adorned with the finest jewels,
17: in one hour such wealth wiped out! "All the ship captains and travelers by sea, sailors and toilers of the sea, stood off at a distance
18: and cried their lament when they saw the smoke from her burning: "Oh, what a city! There was never a city like her!'
19: They threw dust on their heads and cried as if the world had come to an end: Doom, doom, the great city doomed! All who owned ships or did business by sea Got rich on her getting and spending. And now it's over--wiped out in one hour!
20: "O Heaven, celebrate! And join in, saints, apostles, and prophets! God has judged her; every wrong you suffered from her has been judged."
21: A strong Angel reached for a boulder--huge, like a millstone--and heaved it into the sea, saying, Heaved and sunk, the great city Babylon, sunk in the sea, not a sign of her ever again.
22: Silent the music of harpists and singers--you'll never hear flutes and trumpets again. Artisans of every kind--gone; you'll never see their likes again. The voice of a millstone grinding falls dumb; you'll never hear that sound again.
23: The light from lamps, never again; never again laughter of bride and groom. Her traders robbed the whole earth blind, and by black-magic arts deceived the nations.
24: The only thing left of Babylon is blood--the blood of saints and prophets, the murdered and the martyred.