Devine Scripture

Revelation 18:24

What does Revelation 18:24 mean?

A plain-English look at Revelation 18:24 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Revelation 18:24 means

The final charge: in Babylon was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth. This sums up her crimes. She was not only luxurious and deceptive; she was murderous, hostile to God’s witnesses and, by her system, complicit in widespread violence. God’s judgment therefore vindicates His people and confronts the world’s bloodstained order. The verse widens responsibility: Babylon stands as the embodiment of every power that silences truth by force. Justice falls not on a victim but on a perpetrator. The chapter closes by fixing the moral center—persecution and bloodshed—so that God’s sentence is seen as righteous and necessary.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

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

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

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

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And in her was seen the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been put to death on the earth.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and in her blood of prophets and of saints was found, and of all those who have been slain on the earth.'

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And in her was found [the] blood of prophets and saints, and of all the slain upon the earth.

Context

The “no more” declarations culminate with the deepest reason for Babylon’s fall: her bloodguilt toward God’s messengers and people. This provides the theological conclusion to the chapter’s indictments of luxury and deception. With the case closed, the narrative is ready to move in the next chapter to heaven’s hallelujahs and the celebration of God’s reign. Seeing this closing note of martyrdom reminds readers that the conflict is spiritual and moral at its core, and that God’s justice ultimately defends His people.

v.23and 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.

v.24This passage

Cross references

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

  • Revelation 19:2

    for true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

  • Jeremiah 2:34

    Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor: thou didst not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.

  • Daniel 7:21

    I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

  • Revelation 17:6

    And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.

  • Revelation 11:7

    And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.

  • Matthew 23:27

    Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

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