Devine Scripture

Revelation 18:9

What does Revelation 18:9 mean?

A plain-English look at Revelation 18:9 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Revelation 18:9 means

The kings of the earth, once partners in Babylon’s immorality and luxury, now weep as they watch her burn. Their sorrow is real but not repentant. They lament because their source of indulgence is gone. Fear keeps them at a distance; they dare not share her fate. This is the world’s power stripped of confidence—complicit yet cautious, grieving yet unchanged. The smoke of her burning testifies that judgment is visible and inescapable. Their tears show the emptiness of alliances built on sin: when judgment comes, fellows in vice offer no comfort and no rescue, only distant wailing over lost pleasures and power.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning,

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning,

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And the kings of the earth, who made themselves unclean with her, and in her company gave themselves up to evil, will be weeping and crying over her, when they see the smoke of her burning,

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and weep over her, and smite themselves for her, shall the kings of the earth, who with her did commit whoredom and did revel, when they may see the smoke of her burning,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived in delicacies with her, shall weep and bewail themselves over her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning:

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication, and lived luxuriously with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they see the smoke of her burning,

Context

This begins the first of three laments: the kings, the merchants, and the seafarers. The focus turns from heaven’s verdict to earth’s reaction. The kings’ mourning fulfills the earlier mention that they “committed fornication and lived wantonly” with Babylon. Their distance underscores their fear of sharing her torment. Next, their cry will highlight the suddenness of judgment, a theme repeated by all three groups. Understanding this pattern prepares the reader to see the consistent motive behind the laments—economic and sensual loss, not love for righteousness.

v.8Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her.

v.9This passage

v.10standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Cross references

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

  • Isaiah 13:19

    And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

  • Genesis 19:28

    and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

  • Deuteronomy 29:23

    and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

  • 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.

  • Isaiah 34:9

    And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch.

  • Revelation 18:20

    Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.

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