17. In a single momentall the wealth of the city is gone!”And all the captains of the merchant ships and their passengers and sailors and crews will stand at a distance.
18. They will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, “Where is there another city as great as this?”
19. And they will weep and throw dust on their heads to show their grief. And they will cry out,“How terrible, how terrible for that great city!The shipowners became wealthyby transporting her great wealth on the seas.In a single moment it is all gone.”
20. Rejoice over her fate, O heavenand people of God and apostles and prophets!For at last God has judged herfor your sakes.
21. Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted,“Just like this, the great city Babylonwill be thrown down with violenceand will never be found again.
22. The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpetswill never be heard in you again.No craftsmen and no tradeswill ever be found in you again.The sound of the millwill never be heard in you again.
23. The light of a lampwill never shine in you again.The happy voices of brides and groomswill never be heard in you again.For your merchants were the greatest in the world,and you deceived the nations with your sorceries.
24. In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of God’s holy peopleand the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.”