The Fall of Babylon

Revelation 18 I saw another angel come from heaven. This one had great power, and the earth was bright because of his glory. ²The angel shouted,
"Fallen! Powerful Babylon has fallen
and is now the home of demons.
It is the den of every filthy spirit
and of all unclean birds,
and every dirty and hated animal.
³Babylon's evil and immoral wine
has made all nations drunk.
Every king on earth has slept with her,
and every merchant on earth is rich
because of her evil desires."

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven shout,
"My people, you must escape from Babylon.
Don't take part in her sins and share her punishment.
⁵Her sins are piled as high as heaven.
God has remembered the evil she has done.
⁶Treat her as she has treated others.
Make her pay double for what she has done.
Make her drink twice as much
of what she mixed for others.
⁷That woman honored herself with a life of luxury.
Reward her now with suffering and pain.

"Deep in her heart Babylon said, 'I am the queen!
Never will I be a widow
or know what it means to be sad.'
⁸And so, in a single day she will suffer the pain
of sorrow, hunger, and death.
Fire will destroy her dead body,
because her judge is the powerful Lord God."
⁹Every king on earth who slept with her and shared in her luxury will mourn. They will weep, when they see the smoke from that fire. ¹⁰Her sufferings will frighten them, and they will stand at a distance and say,
"Pity that great and powerful city! Pity Babylon!
In a single hour her judgment has come."
¹¹Every merchant on earth will mourn, because there is no one to buy their goods. ¹²There won't be anyone to buy their gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, sweet-smelling wood, fancy carvings of ivory and wood, as well as things made of bronze, iron, or marble. ¹³No one will buy their cinnamon, spices, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, slaves, and other humans.
¹⁴Babylon, the things your heart desired
have all escaped from you.
Every luxury and all your glory
will be lost forever.
You will never get them back.
¹⁵The merchants had become rich because of her. But when they saw her sufferings, they were terrified. They stood at a distance, crying and mourning. ¹⁶Then they shouted,
"Pity the great city of Babylon!
She dressed in fine linen
and wore purple and scarlet cloth.
She had jewelry made of gold
and precious stones and pearls.
¹⁷Yet in a single hour her riches disappeared."
Every ship captain and passenger and sailor stood at a distance, together with everyone who does business by traveling on the sea. ¹⁸When they saw the smoke from her fire, they shouted, "This was the greatest city ever!"
¹⁹They cried loudly, and in their sorrow they threw dust on their heads, as they said,
"Pity the great city of Babylon!
Everyone who sailed the seas
became rich from her treasures.
But in a single hour the city was destroyed.
²⁰The heavens should be happy
with God's people and apostles and prophets.
God has punished her for them."
²¹A powerful angel then picked up a huge stone and threw it into the sea. The angel said,
"This is how the great city of Babylon
will be thrown down, never to rise again.
²²The music of harps and singers and of flutes and trumpets
will no longer be heard.
No workers will ever set up shop in that city,
and the sound of grinding grain will be silenced forever.
²³Lamps will no longer shine anywhere in Babylon,
and couples will never again say wedding vows there.
Her merchants ruled the earth,
and by her witchcraft she fooled all nations.
²⁴On the streets of Babylon is found the blood
of God's people and of his prophets, and everyone else."

Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah

Isaiah 3 The mighty LORD All-Powerful is going to take away
from Jerusalem and Judah everything you need--
your bread and water, ^*2soldiers and heroes,
judges and prophets, leaders and army officers,
³officials and advisors, fortunetellers
and others who tell the future.
⁴He will let children and babies become your rulers.
⁵You will each be cruel to friends and neighbors.
Young people will insult their elders;
no one will show respect to those who deserve it.

⁶Some of you will grab hold of a relative and say,
"You still have a coat. Be our leader
and rule this pile of ruins."
⁷But the answer will be, "I can't do you any good.
Don't make me your leader.
There's no food or clothing left in my house."

⁸Jerusalem and Judah, you rebelled against
your glorious LORD--
your words and your actions, made you stumble and fall.
⁹The look on your faces shows that you are sinful as Sodom,
and you don't try to hide it.
You are in for trouble,
and you have brought it all on yourselves.

The Wrong Kind of Leaders

¹⁰Tell those who obey God, "You're very fortunate--
you will be rewarded for what you have done."
¹¹Tell those who disobey, "You're in big trouble--
what you did to others will come back to you."
¹²Though you are God's people, you are ruled and abused
by women and children.
You are confused by leaders
who guide you down the wrong path.

¹³The LORD is ready to accuse and judge all nations.
¹⁴He will even judge you rulers and leaders
of his own nation.
You destroyed his vineyard
and filled your houses by robbing the poor.
¹⁵The LORD All-Powerful says, "You have crushed my people
and rubbed in the dirt the faces of the poor."

The Women of Jerusalem

¹⁶The LORD says: The women of Jerusalem are proud
and strut around, winking shamelessly.
They wear anklets that jingle and call attention
to the way they walk.
¹⁷But I, the LORD, will cover their heads with sores,
and I will uncover their private parts.
^18-23When that day comes, I will take away from those women all the fine jewelry they wear on their ankles, heads, necks, ears, arms, noses, fingers, and on their clothes. I will remove their veils, their belts, their perfume, their magic charms, their royal robes, and all their fancy dresses, hats, and purses.
²⁴In place of perfume, there will be a stink;
in place of belts, there will be ropes;
in place of fancy hairdos, they will have bald heads.
Instead of expensive clothes, they will wear sackcloth;
instead of beauty, they will have ugly scars.
²⁵The fighting men of Jerusalem will be killed in battle.
²⁶The city will mourn and sit in the dirt,
emptied of its people.
Isaiah 4 When this happens, seven women will grab the same man, and each of them will say, "I'll buy my own food and clothes! Just marry me and take away my disgrace."

The LORD Will Bless His People Who Survive

²The time is coming when the LORD will make his land fruitful and glorious again, and the people of Israel who survive will take great pride in what the land produces. ³Everyone who is left alive in Jerusalem will be called special, ⁴after the LORD sends a fiery judgment to clean the city and its people of their violent deeds.
⁵Then the LORD will cover the whole city and its meeting places with a thick cloud each day and with a flaming fire each night. God's own glory will be like a huge tent that covers everything. ⁶It will provide shade from the heat of the sun and a place of shelter and protection from storms and rain.

Psalm 109
[A psalm by David for the music leader.]
A Prayer for the LORD's Help

¹I praise you, God! Don't keep silent.
²Destructive and deceitful lies are told about me,
³and hateful things are said for no reason.
⁴I had pity and prayed for my enemies,
but their words to me were harsh and cruel.
⁵For being friendly and kind,
they paid me back with meanness and hatred.

⁶My enemies said,
"Find some worthless fools to accuse him of a crime.
⁷Try him and find him guilty!
Consider his prayers a lie.
⁸Cut his life short and let someone else have his job.
⁹Make orphans of his children and a widow of his wife;
¹⁰make his children beg for food and live in the slums.

¹¹"Let the people he owes take everything he owns.
Give it all to strangers.
¹²Don't let anyone be kind to him
or have pity on the children he leaves behind.
¹³Bring an end to his family,
and from now on let him be a forgotten man.

¹⁴"Don't let the LORD forgive
the sins of his parents and his ancestors.
¹⁵Don't let the LORD forget the sins of his family,
or let anyone remember his family ever lived.
¹⁶He was so cruel to the poor, homeless, and discouraged
that they died young.

¹⁷"He cursed others. Now place a curse on him!
He never wished others well.
Wish only trouble for him!
¹⁸He cursed others more often than he dressed himself.
Let his curses strike him deep,
just as water and olive oil soak through to our bones.
¹⁹Let his curses surround him,
just like the clothes he wears each day."