because her sins are heaped as high as heaven
and God has remembered her vileness.
So repay to her double the same treatment
that she has treated others with—
pay her back double for all her deeds
and make her drink twice the brew she gave to others!
With the same measure she exalted herself
and lived luxuriously,
give her that measure of torment and grief,
because she said in her heart,
‘I am no widow; I rule as a queen!
I will never experience grief.’
Therefore, her plagues will fall on her in one day—
disease, famine and mourning.
She will be burned with fire.
For mighty is the Lord God who judges her!”
The kings of the earth who fornicated with her and lived in luxury with her will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of the fire that burns her up. And they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, saying:
“Oh no! You who were once
the great and powerful city Babylon,
now in one hour your complete devastation has come!”
The earth’s merchants weep and mourn for her because no one buys their merchandise anymore: their gold, silver, jewels, and pearls, their fine linen, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet cloth, all kinds of things made from expensive wood, ivory, bronze, iron, and marble, quantities of the finest cinnamon, spice, incense, frankincense, and myrrh, wine, olive oil, wheat, and the finest flour, sheep, cattle, horses, and their four-wheeled carriages, and the trafficking of the bodies and souls of people. And they will say:
The splendid delicacies for which your soul craved have departed from you. All your elegance and splendor have disappeared, never to be seen again.
Those who sold these things and grew wealthy through their business with her will stand far off, terrified over her torment. They will weep and mourn, saying:
“How horrible!
The great city that once clothed herself
with fine linen and purple and scarlet cloth
glittering with gold, with jewels and with pearls—
in one brief moment such vast wealth is now laid waste!”
Every ship’s captain and his crew, every seafarer and mariner, watched from far away and cried out as they saw her go up in flames:
“What city was ever like the great city Babylon?”
As a sign of their dismay, they threw dust on their heads
and shouted with sobs and grief:
“How horrible, so horrible, O great city Babylon!
For in one moment you suffered such destruction—
you who once made the merchants on the sea
so very wealthy.
Rejoice over her, O heaven
You apostles and prophets and holy believers, rejoice!
For on your behalf
God pronounced the judgment against her
that she wanted to bring upon you!”
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