Revelation 18

Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · AD 68 – AD 96 · Late apostolic age · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·

24 verses · 725 words · ~4 min read · ~5 min listen

Babylon Is Fallen

Isaiah 21:1–10

¹After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory. ²And he cried out in a mighty voice:

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!

She has become a lair for demons

and a haunt for every unclean spirit,

every unclean bird,

and every detestable beast.

³All the nations have drunk the wine

of the passion of her immorality.

The kings of the earth were immoral with her,

and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy

from the extravagance of her luxury.”

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven say:

“Come out of her, My people,

so that you will not share in her sins

or contract any of her plagues.

⁵For her sins are piled up to heaven,

and God has remembered her iniquities.

⁶Give back to her as she has done to others;

pay her back double for what she has done;

mix her a double portion in her own cup.

⁷As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury,

give her the same measure of torment and grief.

In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen;

I am not a widow and will never see grief.’

⁸Therefore her plagues will come in one day—

death and grief and famine—

and she will be consumed by fire,

for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

Lament over Babylon

⁹Then the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. ¹⁰In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out:

“Woe, woe to the great city,

the mighty city of Babylon!

For in a single hour

your judgment has come.”

¹¹And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo— ¹²cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; of all kinds of citron wood and every article of ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; ¹³of cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; of wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; of cattle, sheep, horses, and carriages; of bodies and souls of slaves. ¹⁴And they will say:

“The fruit of your soulʼs desire

has departed from you;

all your luxury and splendor have vanished,

never to be seen again.”

¹⁵The merchants who sold these things and grew gaimed wealth from her will stand at a distance, in fear of her torment. They will weep and mourn, ¹⁶saying:

“Woe, woe to the great city,

clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet,

adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!

¹⁷For in a single hour

such fabulous wealth has been destroyed!”

Every shipmaster, passenger, and sailor, and all who make their living from the sea, will stand at a distance ¹⁸and cry out at the sight of the smoke rising from the fire that consumes her. “What city was ever like this great city?” they will exclaim.

¹⁹Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out:

“Woe, woe to the great city,

where all who had ships on the sea

were enriched by her wealth!

For in a single hour

she has been destroyed.”

²⁰Rejoice over her, O heaven,

and you saints and apostles and prophets,

because God has pronounced for you

His judgment against her.

The Doom of Babylon

²¹Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying:

“With such violence

the great city of Babylon will be cast down,

never to be seen again.

²²And the sound of harpists and musicians,

of flute players and trumpeters,

will never ring out in you again.

Nor will any craftsmen of any trade

be found in you again,

nor the sound of a millstone

be heard in you again.

²³The light of a lamp

will never shine in you again,

and the voices of a bride and bridegroom

will never call out in you again.

For your merchants were the great ones of the earth,

because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.”

²⁴And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.

Footnotes (6)

a v2 See Isaiah 21:9and Revelation 14:8.
b v2 NE, WH, BYZ, and TR a haunt for every unclean spirit and every unclean and detestable bird.
c v3 SBL and WH have fallen by
d v4 See Jeremiah 51:45.
e v9 Literally when they see the smoke of her burning; also in verse 18
f v14 Literally And:

Study notes on this chapter · 4

BackgroundWidely held reading

By the rivers of Babylon

An exile psalm of grief and anger: singers hang up their harps, refuse songs for their captors, and remember Zion. Its closing cry for vengeance troubles modern readers; ancient Near Eastern war laments commonly voiced such imprecations, and the psalm preserves raw exile emotion rather than prescribing it.

When: Babylonian exile, 6th century BC.

Original passagePsalms 137:1–4

Echoed inRevelation 18:20 — Heaven rejoicing over fallen Babylon.

Ways people read this (2)

Some read the ending as honest lament left unanswered.
Others see it as handing justice to God rather than taking it.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentWidely held reading

Babylon overthrown by the Medes

Isaiah foretells that God will stir up the Medes against Babylon and that the city, 'the jewel of kingdoms', will become like Sodom and Gomorrah. Babylon fell to Cyrus of Persia (with Median forces) in 539 BC. The claim that it would never again be inhabited is read differently: the city declined over centuries, but was occupied for a long time afterward.

When: Isaiah, c. 740–700 BC (or later, if the oracle is dated to the exile); Babylon fell in 539 BC and was largely deserted by late antiquity.

Original passageIsaiah 13:17–22Isaiah 13:1–5

Where the New Testament applies itDaniel 5:30–31

Echoed inRevelation 18:2

Ways people read this (3)

Fulfilled in the Persian conquest and the long decline of the city.
The language of total desolation has been read as awaiting a future fulfillment, as in Revelation's picture of Babylon's fall.
Critical scholars often date the oracle to shortly before 539 BC and read it as describing events about to happen.

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentWidely held reading

Fallen, fallen is Babylon

In a watchman's vision Isaiah hears the announcement 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the images of her gods lie shattered'. Revelation borrows the very words for the fall of a later 'Babylon', so that Babylon becomes a symbol of the power that opposes God.

When: Isaiah, c. 700 BC; Revelation, c. AD 90s.

Original passageIsaiah 21:1–10

Echoed inRevelation 14:8Revelation 18:2

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

Prophecy & fulfillmentDebated

Babylon the great, the woman on the beast

Revelation 17 shows a woman seated on a scarlet beast, drunk on the blood of the saints, called 'Babylon the Great, mother of prostitutes', and explains that the seven heads are seven hills and also seven kings. 'Babylon' in Revelation builds on Isaiah's and Jeremiah's oracles against the historical city. Interpreters differ on which power John means.

When: Revelation, c. AD 90s (or before AD 70, in some dating).

Original passageRevelation 17:1–18

Echoed inIsaiah 47:1–9Jeremiah 51:6–9Revelation 18:1–8

Ways people read this (5)

Rome: the seven hills and the emperors, as the original readers would have understood (the most common scholarly view).
Jerusalem, as the city that killed the prophets (some preterist readings).
A future global political-economic-religious system (futurist).
A particular institution, such as the Roman Catholic Church (historicist Protestant, rejected by Catholics and many others).
The world system in every age that opposes God (idealist).

Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.

See all prophecy & fulfillment notes →

Revelation 18

Babylon Is Fallenⓘ

Lament over Babylonⓘ

The Doom of Babylonⓘ

Study notes on this chapter · 4

By the rivers of Babylon

Babylon overthrown by the Medes

Fallen, fallen is Babylon

Babylon the great, the woman on the beast

Babylon Is Fallen

Lament over Babylon

The Doom of Babylon