Devine Scripture

Revelation 18:4

What does Revelation 18:4 mean?

A plain-English look at Revelation 18:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Revelation 18:4 means

A second voice from heaven lovingly commands, “Come forth, my people, out of her.” God claims a people even within hostile systems and calls them to separate, lest they share Babylon’s sins and her plagues. This is both mercy and warning: mercy, because God provides a path of escape; warning, because complicity brings consequences. Holiness is not withdrawal from the world, but distance from its idolatrous ways. Separation here is moral and spiritual allegiance, not merely geography. The command shows that God’s judgments are never careless sweeps; He distinguishes His own, urging them to break fellowship with evil before judgment falls, so that discipline becomes deliverance for those who heed His voice.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And another voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Come out of her, my people, so that you may have no part in her sins and in her punishments.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

And I heard another voice out of the heaven, saying, `Come forth out of her, My people, that ye may not partake with her sins, and that ye may not receive of her plagues,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Go out from her, my people; that you be not partakers of her sins and that you receive not of her plagues.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And I heard another voice out of the heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins, and that ye do not receive of her plagues:

Context

Having stated Babylon’s guilt, the narrative pauses to address believers directly. Before the detailed judgments unfold, heaven issues a pastoral call to disentangle from Babylon. This follows a biblical pattern: before destruction, God provides a warning and a way out. What comes next will describe why urgency is needed—Babylon’s sins are full, and judgment is certain and near. Keeping this call in view helps readers see that the chapter is not only about doom, but about God’s care to preserve His people from sharing in that doom.

v.3For 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.

v.4This passage

v.5for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Cross references

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

  • 2 John 1:11

    for he that giveth him greeting partaketh in his evil works.

  • Numbers 16:26

    And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.

  • Isaiah 52:11

    Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; cleanse yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of Jehovah.

  • 1 Timothy 5:22

    Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.

  • Matthew 23:30

    and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

  • Jeremiah 50:8

    Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks.

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