Revelation 18 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven with great authority, and the earth was lit up by his brilliance.

He called out in a powerful voice: "Fallen! The great Babylon has fallen! She has become a hideout for demons, a prison for every corrupt spirit, a cage for every disgusting and despised bird."

Because every nation has gotten drunk on the wine of her obsessive immorality, and the kings of the earth have been sleeping with her, and the merchants of the earth got rich off her outrageous luxury.

Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Get out of her, my people, so you don't share in her failures and so you don't receive any of her plagues."

Because her failures have piled up all the way to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes."

Give her back exactly what she gave out. Pay her back double for what she has done. In the cup she mixed drinks for others, mix her a double.

Whatever glory and luxury she gave herself, give her that much torment and grief. Because she tells herself, 'I sit as a queen. I am not a widow. I will never see grief.'

Because of this, her plagues will hit in a single day — death, grief, and famine — and she will be completely burned up with fire. Because the Lord God who judges her is powerful.

The kings of the earth who slept with her and shared her luxury will cry and beat their chests over her when they see the smoke of her burning.

Standing far off because they are terrified of her torment, they say: 'How terrible, how terrible, you great city! Babylon, you powerful city! Your judgment came in a single hour!'

And the merchants of the earth cry and grieve over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore —

cargo of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple cloth, silk, and scarlet fabric; all kinds of fragrant wood, every sort of ivory item, every kind of product made from expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble;

cinnamon, spice, incense, perfume, and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots; and human bodies — that is, human souls.

"The ripe fruit your soul craved has gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, and they will never be found again."

The merchants who sold these things, who got rich from her, will stand far off because they are terrified of her torment, crying and grieving,

saying: 'How terrible, how terrible, you great city! You who dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and decorated yourself with gold, jewels, and pearls!

Because in a single hour, all that wealth was wiped out!' And every ship captain, every passenger, the sailors, and everyone who makes a living from the sea stood far off

and cried out as they watched the smoke of her burning: 'What city was ever like this great city?'

They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and grieving: 'How terrible, how terrible, you great city, where everyone with ships on the sea got rich from her wealth! Because in a single hour she has been wiped out!'

Celebrate over her, heaven! Celebrate, you who are set apart for God, and you apostles and prophets! Because God has pronounced judgment on her for how she treated you."

Then a powerful angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: "This is how the great city Babylon will be violently thrown down and never found again."

The sound of musicians playing harps and flutes and trumpets will never be heard in you again. No skilled worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone grinding will never be heard in you again.

The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voices of a bride and groom will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the most powerful people on earth, and all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.

And in her was found the blood of prophets and of those set apart for God, and of all who have been slaughtered on the earth."