Devine Scripture

Revelation 18:23

What does Revelation 18:23 mean?

A plain-English look at Revelation 18:23 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Revelation 18:23 means

No lamp will shine there, and no voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard. Domestic light and family joy are extinguished. The reasons are then given: Babylon’s merchants acted like princes, wielding outsized power, and her sorcery deceived all nations. Behind the glamour stood manipulation and spiritual corruption. Deception—whether through idolatry, propaganda, or occult allure—lulled the world into complicity. God’s verdict addresses both the arrogant elevation of commerce over righteousness and the bewitching lies that sustained it. The end of light and weddings shows that judgment reaches the intimate places of life, ending both spectacle and everyday happiness sustained by injustice.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And never again will the shining of lights be seen in you; and the voice of the newly-married man and the bride will never again be sounding in you: for your traders were the lords of the earth, and by your evil powers were all the nations turned out of the right way.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and light of a lamp may not shine at all in thee any more; and voice of bridegroom and of bride may not be heard at all in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great ones of the earth, because in thy sorcery were all the nations led astray,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And the light of the lamp shall shine no more at all in thee: and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth: for all nations have been deceived by thy enchantments.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

and light of lamp shall shine no more at all in thee, and voice of bridegroom and bride shall be heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were the great ones of the earth; for by thy sorcery have all the nations been deceived.

Context

This continues the “no more” litany, shifting from public culture to private joy and then providing moral reasons for the judgment: domineering merchants and pervasive deception. The next and final verse will supply the ultimate charge—bloodguilt. By stacking reasons, the chapter reveals that Babylon’s fall is not arbitrary but rooted in persistent, systemic evil. This verse thus links the city’s economic might and spiritual seduction, preparing for the climactic indictment that follows.

v.22And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee;

v.23This passage

v.24And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Ezekiel 27:33

    When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many peoples; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

  • Isaiah 23:8

    Who hath purposed this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth?

  • Nahum 3:4

    because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.

  • Revelation 18:3

    For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.

  • Jeremiah 16:9

    For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

  • Isaiah 47:9

    but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments.

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