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Revelation 18

Revelation 18 announces God’s judgment on Babylon’s pride, corrupt wealth, and bloodshed, exposing the collapse of her promised security.

An angel announces Babylon’s fall, and a voice from heaven calls God’s people to leave her and avoid sharing in her sins. The vision portrays a wealthy city whose luxury has enriched merchants and entangled kings and nations. Those who profited from her stand at a distance and mourn her destruction. Heaven is told to rejoice at God’s judgment. A final sign, a millstone thrown into the sea, depicts her ruin and the end of life within her.

injustice and angertemptationsermon or Bible study notes
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1After these things, I saw another angel coming down out of the sky, having great authority. The earth was illuminated with his glory.
2He cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hated bird!
3For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury.”
4I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you don’t receive of her plagues,
5for her sins have reached to the sky, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double.
7However much she glorified herself and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, ‘I sit a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see mourning.’
8Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire, for the Lord God who has judged her is strong.
9The kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning,
10standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour.’
11The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more:
12merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, all expensive wood, every vessel of ivory, every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
13and cinnamon, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and people’s bodies and souls.
14The fruits which your soul lusted after have been lost to you. All things that were dainty and sumptuous have perished from you, and you will find them no more at all.
15The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, will stand far away for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
16saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17For in an hour such great riches are made desolate.’ Every ship master, and everyone who sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood far away,
18and cried out as they looked at the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like the great city?’
19They cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her great wealth!’ For she is made desolate in one hour.
20“Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets, for God has judged your judgment on her.”
21A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all.
22The voice of harpists, minstrels, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. No craftsman of whatever craft will be found any more at all in you. The sound of a mill will be heard no more at all in you.
23The light of a lamp will shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will be heard no more at all in you, for your merchants were the princes of the earth; for with your sorcery all the nations were deceived.
24In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Revelation 18:4The heavenly command separates God’s people from Babylon’s sins before the vision describes the grief of those enriched by her.
Revelation 18:7Babylon’s claim to queenhood and freedom from mourning exposes the pride that her sudden judgment will overturn.
Revelation 18:20Heaven’s rejoicing contrasts with the merchants’ mourning because God’s judgment answers Babylon’s violence against his people.
Where this chapter reaches

Jeremiah and Isaiah share the imagery of Babylon’s downfall, her proud confidence overturned, and a call to leave her before judgment. Ezekiel’s lament over a wealthy trading city parallels the cargo lists and the grief of merchants and seafarers over lost riches.

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After reading the whole chapter

What does the mourners’ grief reveal about what they valued in Babylon?

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How does Babylon’s claim that she will never mourn challenge your own sources of security?

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Questions people ask about Revelation 18

What is Babylon in Revelation 18?

Babylon is portrayed as a great city whose wealth, deception, and violence reach across the nations. Many readers understand it as a symbolic portrayal of Rome and of human power opposed to God. The chapter does not name Rome; its focus is Babylon’s guilt and the certainty of God’s judgment.

Why does Revelation 18 tell heaven to rejoice over Babylon?

Verse 20 connects rejoicing with God’s judgment on behalf of his people. The closing verse identifies Babylon with the blood of prophets, saints, and others slain on earth. Heaven’s response concerns justice against a murderous power, while the merchants mourn the destruction of the city that made them rich.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).