Knox Bible

1

After this I saw another angel, entrusted with great power, come down from heaven; earth shone with the glory of his presence.

2

And he cried aloud, Babylon, great Babylon is fallen; she has become the abode of devils, the stronghold of all unclean spirits, the eyrie of all birds that are unclean and hateful to man.

3

The whole world has drunk the maddening wine of her fornication; the kings of the earth have lived in dalliance with her, and its merchants have grown rich through her reckless pleasures.

4

And now I heard another voice from heaven say, Come out of her, my people, that you may not be involved in her guilt, nor share the plagues that fall upon her.

5

Her guilt mounts up to heaven; the Lord has kept her sins in remembrance.

6

Deal with her as she has dealt with you; repay her twice over for all she has done amiss; brew double measure for her in the cup she has brewed for others;✻

7

requite her with anguish and sorrow for all her pride and luxury. She tells herself, Here I sit enthroned like a queen; widowhood is not for me, I shall never know what it is to mourn;

8

and all her plagues shall come upon her in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned to the ground; such power has the God who is her judge.

9

How they will weep over her and beat their breasts, those kings of the earth who once lived in dalliance and took their pleasures with her, as they see the smoke rise where she burns!

10

Standing at a distance, for fear of sharing her punishment, they will cry out, Alas, Babylon the great, alas, Babylon the strong, in one brief hour judgement has come upon thee!

11

And all the merchants of the world will weep and mourn over her; who will buy their merchandise now?

12

Their cargoes of gold and silver, of precious stone and pearl, of lawn and purple, of silk and scarlet; all the citrus wood, the work in ivory and precious stone and brass and iron and marble;

13

cinnamon and balm, perfume and myrrh and incense, wine and oil and wheat and fine flour, cattle and sheep and horses and chariots, and men’s bodies, and men’s souls.✻

14

It is gone from thee, the harvest thy soul longed for; all that gaiety and glory is lost to thee, and shall never be seen any more.

15

The merchants that grew rich from such traffic will stand at a distance from her, for fear of sharing her punishment, weeping and mourning;

16

Alas, they will say, alas for the great city, that went clad in lawn and purple and scarlet, all hung about with gold and jewels and pearls;

17

in one brief hour all that wealth has vanished. The sea-captains, too, and all that sail between ports, the mariners and all who make their living from the sea, stood at a distance,✻

18

crying out, as they saw the smoke rise where she was burning, What city can compare with this great city?

19

They poured dust on their heads, and cried aloud, weeping and mourning, Alas, alas for the great city, whose magnificence brought wealth to all that had ships at sea; in one brief hour she is laid waste.

20

Triumph, heaven, over her fall, triumph, you saints in heaven, apostles and prophets; God has avenged you on her.

21

And now an angel, of sovereign strength, lifted up a stone like a great mill-stone and cast it into the sea, crying out, So, with one crash of ruin, will Babylon fall, the great city, and there will be no trace of her any more.

22

Never again will men listen there to the music of harper and of minstrel, of flute-player and trumpeter; never again will the craftsmen of all those crafts be found in thee, never again the grinding of a mill heard in thee;

23

never again the light of lamps shining, never again the voice of bridegroom and of bride. Once the great men of the earth were thy purveyors; once thy sorceries bewitched the world.

24

The blood of prophet and saint lay at her doors; the blood of all that were ever slain on the earth.