Apocalipse 18

ARC · Chapter 18/22

1E depois d'estas coisas vi descer do céu outro anjo, que tinha grande poder, e a terra foi illuminada da sua gloria.

2E clamou fortemente com grande voz, dizendo: É caida, é caida a grande Babylonia, e é feita morada de demonios, e coito de todo o espirito immundo, e coito de toda a ave immunda e aborrecivel.

3Porque todas as nações beberam do vinho da ira da sua fornicação, e os reis da terra fornicaram com ella; e os mercadores da terra se enriqueceram da abundancia de suas delicias.

4E ouvi outra voz do céu, que dizia: Sae d'ella, povo meu, para que não sejas participante dos seus peccados, e para que não recebas das suas pragas.

5Porque já os seus peccados se accumularam até ao céu, e Deus se lembrou das iniquidades d'ella.

6Tornae-lhe como ella vos tem dado, e duplicae-lhe em dobro conforme as suas obras: no calix em que vos deu de beber dae-lhe a ella em dobro.

7Quanto ella se glorificou, e em delicias esteve, tanto lhe dae de tormento e pranto; porque diz em seu coração: Estou assentada como rainha, e não sou viuva, e não verei o pranto.

8Portanto n'um dia virão as suas pragas; a morte, e o pranto, e a fome; e será queimada com fogo; porque é forte o Senhor Deus que a julga.

9E os reis da terra, que fornicaram com ella, e viveram em delicias, a chorarão, e sobre ella prantearão, quando virem o fumo do seu incendio;

10Estando de longe pelo temor do seu tormento, dizendo: Ai! ai d'aquella grande Babylonia, aquella forte cidade! pois n'uma hora veiu o teu juizo.

11E sobre ella choram e lamentam os mercadores da terra; porque ninguem mais compra as suas mercadorias:

12Mercadorias de oiro, e de prata, e de pedras preciosas, e de perolas, e de linho fino, e de purpura, e de seda, e de escarlata; e toda a madeira odorifera, e todo o vaso de marfim, e todo o vaso de madeira preciosissima, de bronze e de ferro, e de marmore;

13E canella, e especiaria, e perfume, e unguento odorifero, e incenso, e vinho, e azeite, e flor de farinha, e trigo, e cavalgaduras, e ovelhas; e mercadorias de cavallos, e de carros, e de corpos e de almas de homens.

14E o fructo do desejo da tua alma foi-se de ti; e todas as coisas gostosas e excellentes se foram de ti, e não mais as acharás.

15Os mercadores d'estas coisas, que por ellas se enriqueceram, estarão de longe, pelo temor do seu tormento, chorando, e lamentando,

16E dizendo: Ai, ai d'aquella grande cidade! que estava vestida de linho fino, e purpura, e escarlata; e adornada com oiro e pedras preciosas e perolas! Porque n'uma hora foram assoladas tantas riquezas.

17E todo o piloto, e todo o que navega em náos, e todo o marinheiro, e todos os que traficam por mar se pozeram de longe:

18E, vendo o fumo do seu incendio, clamaram, dizendo: Que cidade é similhante a esta grande cidade?

19E lançaram pó sobre as suas cabeças, e clamaram, chorando, e lamentando, e dizendo: Ai, ai d'aquella grande cidade! na qual todos os que tinham náos no mar se enriqueceram da sua opulencia; porque n'uma hora foi assolada.

20Alegra-te sobre ella, ó céu, e vós, sanctos apostolos e prophetas; porque já Deus julgou a vossa causa quanto a ella.

21E um forte anjo levantou uma pedra como uma grande mó, e lançou-a no mar, dizendo: Com egual impeto será lançada Babylonia, aquella grande cidade, e não será jámais achada

22E em ti não se ouvirá mais a voz de harpistas, e de musicos, e de frauteiros, e de trombeteiros, e nenhum artifice de arte alguma se achará mais em ti; e ruido de mó em ti mais se não ouvirá:

23E luz de candeia não mais alumiará em ti, e voz de esposo e de esposa mais em ti se não ouvirá; porque os teus mercadores eram os grandes da terra; porque todas as nações foram enganadas pelas tuas feiticerias.

24E n'ella se achou o sangue dos prophetas, e dos sanctos, e de todos os que foram mortos na terra.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

An angel announces the sudden and complete fall of great Babylon, and kings, merchants, and sailors who had profited from her wealth mourn her destruction from a distance, afraid of being struck as well. The chapter contrasts this earthly mourning with heavenly joy over justice finally done.

Explanation

The extensive list of goods the merchants mourn losing — gold, silver, precious stones, silk, spices, and even 'the bodies and souls of men' (a direct reference to the slave trade) — starkly exposes how economic systems can be built on human exploitation and excessive consumption, this being a central part of the corruption being denounced. The repeated pattern of mourning 'from a distance' by kings, merchants, and sailors, all afraid to get too close to the judgment, illustrates how allies of corrupt systems often abandon them the moment they fall, concerned only with their own safety. The final image of the millstone thrown into the sea, never to be found again, symbolizes the irreversibility and totality of this fall, contrasting with the heavenly 'rejoice' addressed to saints and apostles in verse 20. Today's application is an implicit invitation not to cling to or profit from systems built on injustice, since their collapse, however distant it may seem, is certain.

Fun facts

  • The list of luxury goods in 18:12-13 explicitly includes 'the bodies and souls of men' as the last item traded, one of the most direct denunciations of the slave trade found anywhere in the Bible.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Apocalipse 18:1A new angel comes down with such authority that his very presence lights up the earth, setting the stage for the announcement of judgment that follows.
  2. Apocalipse 18:2Describing the fallen city as inhabited only by unclean spirits and birds is the standard literary image in antiquity for a city in total ruin and abandonment, similar to the language Isaiah used against other ancient cities.
  3. Apocalipse 18:3Sums up Babylon's corruption in three affected groups: entire nations, kings who allied themselves with her, and merchants who grew rich off this system.
  4. Apocalipse 18:4A voice from heaven calls God's people to come out of this city, avoiding participation in both its sins and the plagues about to fall on it.
  5. Apocalipse 18:5The image of sins piled up “unto heaven” describes a guilt so long accumulated that it finally reaches the point of being judged.
  6. Apocalipse 18:6Calls for proportional retribution, in the same measure she herself applied to others — a principle of equivalent justice already seen elsewhere in the Bible.
  7. Apocalipse 18:7Contrasts the city's arrogant self-confidence, seeing herself as a queen immune to suffering, with the torment she is about to receive.
  8. Apocalipse 18:8Announces that the plagues will arrive in a single day, death, mourning, and famine, followed by destruction by fire, underscoring the power of the judge behind this judgment.
  9. Apocalipse 18:9The kings who benefited from their alliance with this city weep as they see the smoke of her destruction, more concerned with their own loss than with repentance.
  10. Apocalipse 18:10Describes these kings watching from afar, afraid of suffering the same fate, lamenting how quickly a city that seemed too powerful to fall has fallen.
  11. Apocalipse 18:11The merchants weep for a more practical reason than the kings: without the city, no one buys their goods anymore, directly hitting their businesses.
  12. Apocalipse 18:12This list of luxury goods, spices, fabrics, animals, ships, works almost like a snapshot of Mediterranean trade at the time. Ending the list by naming enslaved people as just another commodity is a direct indictment of an economy also built on human trafficking.
  13. Apocalipse 18:13The list of goods ends shockingly, naming “slaves, and souls of men” as just one more trade item, a direct indictment of the trade in enslaved people that sustained part of this economy.
  14. Apocalipse 18:14Describes the total loss of the luxury that once defined this city, something that will never be recovered.
  15. Apocalipse 18:15Repeats the same pattern as the kings: the merchants also watch from afar, afraid, lamenting their own financial loss.
  16. Apocalipse 18:16The lament details exactly the same luxury items already described in the chapter, fine linen, purple, scarlet, gold, and precious stones, now lost in a single hour.
  17. Apocalipse 18:17Widens the group of mourners to include the entire shipping industry, captains, sailors, and traders who depended on this city's maritime commerce.
  18. Apocalipse 18:18The rhetorical question “What city is like unto this great city!” echoes, in reverse, the same kind of praise the beast received in chapter 13, now turned into a lament over her fall.
  19. Apocalipse 18:19Throwing dust on one's head was a traditional gesture of deep mourning in the ancient world, used here by the merchants to express the sudden loss of all the wealth the city had provided.
  20. Apocalipse 18:20Stands in direct contrast to all the lament of the previous verses: while the earth weeps over the city's fall, heaven is called to rejoice, because this judgment represents justice for those who suffered persecution.
  21. Apocalipse 18:21Throwing a millstone into the sea, never to be found again, is an enacted scene similar to prophetic gestures in the book of Jeremiah, a way of showing the city's destruction as final and irreversible.
  22. Apocalipse 18:22The list of everyday sounds, music, craftsmen, the noise of a millstone, a wedding celebration, that vanish for good describes not just violence but the complete end of normal life and joy in that city.
  23. Apocalipse 18:23The absence of candlelight and wedding celebrations describes the total end of everyday life in the city, not just physical destruction, but the complete silence of everything that once animated that place.
  24. Apocalipse 18:24Closes the chapter with the gravest accusation: the blood of prophets, saints, and all who were ever slain on the earth is charged to this city, summing up the whole responsibility for the persecution described throughout the book.

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