The funeral of Babylon - Revelation 18:1-24

v1 Then I saw another *angel come down from heaven. This *angel had great power. The bright light that shone from him lit up the whole world. v2 And he called out with a loud voice. He said, *Ruined, *ruined is the great city called Babylon. Babylon has become the place where *demons live. All kinds of evil spirits are prisoners there. Babylon has become like a cage that holds dirty birds. The birds that people hate will stay there. v3 All the nations have drunk Babylons wine. This wine means the anger of Babylons *sins of sex. And the kings of the earth are guilty with Babylon. It is as if they have slept with Babylon. And the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the great wealth of Babylons luxury. v4 Then I heard God speak from heaven. He said, Come out of that city, my people. Do not share Babylons *sins. And then you will not share Babylons punishment. v5 Babylons *sins are so many. They have become like a pile that reaches up to the sky. And God has not forgotten Babylons evil deeds. v6 Do to Babylon as Babylon has done to other people. Babylon is like a woman who owes a debt. Make her pay twice as much for what she has done. Fill her cup with a drink twice as strong as the drink that she gave to other people. v7 She made herself very great and she lived a life full of luxury. So now, make her suffer! Her pain should be as great as the luxury that she used to have. She said to herself, I am a queen. I sit on my *throne. I am not a widow and I will never be sad. v8 For this reason, Babylons punishment will come suddenly. The people in Babylon will suffer. They will be sad when many of them die. There will be no food and they will be hungry. And fire will destroy the city. The *Lord God has announced his judgement against Babylon. And he is powerful. v9 The kings of the earth were guilty with Babylon. It was as if they had sex with Babylon. They had lived in luxury with Babylons wealth. They will see the smoke of the fire that destroys Babylon. Then they will weep and they will be sad. v10 These kings will stand a long way from Babylon. They will be afraid that they too may suffer with Babylon. They will say, How terrible, how awful it is for that great city! Babylon was such a strong city! But in only one hour, Babylons judgement and punishment came. v11 The merchants of the world will weep very much for Babylon. They will be sad because nobody will buy their *goods. v12 They sold gold, silver, precious stones, and *pearls. They sold beautiful white cloth, purple cloth, silk and bright red cloth. They sold things that people made from wood with a pleasant smell. They sold things that people made from ivory (the teeth of animals). They sold things that people made from expensive wood, *bronze, iron and marble (beautiful rock). v13 They sold all kinds of oils and powders that were sweet to smell. They sold wine and oil, flour and wheat. They sold cows, sheep, horses and carriages. They sold other people as slaves.

v14 The merchants will speak as if they are speaking at a womans funeral: Babylon, you have lost all the good things that you desired. You have lost all your luxuries and riches. You will never get them back again. v15 The merchants had become rich because of the city called Babylon. But they will stand a long way off. They will be afraid because of what Babylon suffers. And they will weep and be sad. v16 They will say, How terrible! How awful it is for that great city! Babylon was like a woman who dressed in beautiful clothes. Her clothes were white, purple and bright red. She wore gold, precious stones and *pearls. v17 But in just one hour, Babylon lost all of its great wealth. All who work on ships will stand far off. These include all the captains of the ships, all those who travel by sea, and the sailors. v18 They will see the smoke of the fire that destroys Babylon. They will cry aloud, There has never been a city as great as this one. v19 They will throw dust on their heads to show how sorry they are. They will weep and they will cry out. They will say, How terrible! How awful for the great city! All the people who had ships on the sea became rich because of her wealth. But in one hour, God has destroyed her. v20 You, who live in heaven, be glad. God has destroyed Babylon. And Gods people, his *apostles and his *prophets, be glad. God has punished Babylon because of what Babylon did to you. v21 Then a strong *angel picked up a very large stone. He threw it into the sea. He said, With such force, God will destroy the great city called Babylon. It will never exist again. v22 Then he said, as if he were speaking to Babylon, There will not be any music in your streets. There will be no sound of *harps, singers, *flutes or *trumpets. All your skilled workers will disappear, and your mills will have no grain to make flour. v23 Never again will people see the light of a lamp in Babylon. Nobody will hear the voices of bridegroom and bride in Babylon. This is because Babylons merchants were the great people of the earth. And it was Babylons magic that caused all the nations to believe lies. v24 Babylon was guilty of the death of the *prophets and of Gods people. Babylon was guilty of the death of people all over the world.