1-8. Following this I saw another Angel descend from Heaven. His authority was immense, his glory flooded earth with brightness, 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.All nations drank the wild wine of her whoring;kings of the earth went whoring with her;entrepreneurs made millions exploiting her.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.Her sins stink to high Heaven;God has remembered every evil she’s done.Give her back what she’s given,double what she’s doubled in her works,double the recipe in the cup she mixed;Bring her flaunting and wild waysto torment and tears.Because she gloated, “I’m queen over all,and no widow, never a tear on my face,”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.
11-17. “The traders will cry and carry on because the bottom dropped out of business, no more market for their goods: gold, silver, precious gems, pearls; fabrics of fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet; perfumed wood and vessels of ivory, precious woods, bronze, iron, and marble; 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.Everything you’ve lived for, gone!All delicate and delectable luxury, lost!Not a scrap, not a thread to be found!“The traders who made millions off her kept their distance for fear of getting burned, and cried and carried on all the more:Doom, doom, the great city doomed!Dressed in the latest fashions,adorned with the finest jewels,in one hour such wealth wiped out!
17-19. “All the ship captains and travelers by sea, sailors and toilers of the sea, stood off at a distance and cried their lament when they saw the smoke from her burning: ‘Oh, what a city! There was never a city like her!’ 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 seaGot rich on her getting and spending.And now it’s over—wiped out in one hour!