Revelation 18:12
What does Revelation 18:12 mean?
A plain-English look at Revelation 18:12 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Revelation 18:12 means
A lavish inventory spills forth: gold and silver, jewels and pearls; fine fabrics and costly dyes; rare woods, ivory, prized metals, and marble. The list paints a world obsessed with display and status. It is not condemning materials themselves, but the system that elevates luxury into an idol and measures worth by possession and spectacle. Babylon’s markets catered to every refined taste and flaunted human craft at its most exquisite. Yet such splendor, when detached from righteousness, becomes a veneer over exploitation and pride. The very abundance that fed Babylon’s arrogance now testifies to the height from which she falls and the emptiness left behind.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
KJV
King James Version · 1611The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Gold, and silver, and stones of great price, and jewels, and delicate linen, and robes of purple and silk and red; and perfumed wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of fair wood, and of brass, and iron, and stone;
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862lading of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearl, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel of most precious wood, and brass, and iron, and marble,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones: and of pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet: and all thyine wood: and all manner of vessels of ivory: and all manner of vessels of precious stone and of brass and of iron and of marble:
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890lading of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearl, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet dye, and all thyine wood, and every article in ivory, and every article in most precious wood, and in brass, and in iron, and in marble,
Context
Following the merchants’ lament, John catalogs the goods to show the opulence of Babylon’s trade. The list moves from precious metals and stones to fabrics and materials used in elite settings. This serves two functions: it illustrates the vast web of economic life tied to Babylon and prepares the reader for the climax of the list in the next verse—human beings treated as merchandise. Understanding the rising intensity of the inventory helps emphasize how deeply the world’s economy had been corrupted, making the coming loss both comprehensive and deserved.
v.11And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more;
v.12This passage
v.13and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Proverbs 8:10
Receive my instruction, and not silver; And knowledge rather than choice gold.
- Ezekiel 27:5
They have made all thy planks of fir-trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for thee.
- Revelation 17:4
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication,
- 2 Chronicles 2:8
Send me also cedar-trees, fir-trees, and algum-trees, out of Lebanon; for I know that thy servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
- 1 Kings 10:11
And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug-trees and precious stones.
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