Apocalipse 18

BLIVRE · Chapter 18/22

1E depois destas coisas eu vi outro anjo descendo do céu, tendo grande poder; e a terra foi iluminada pela sua glória.

2E ele clamou fortemente em alta voz, dizendo: “Caiu! Caiu a grande Babilônia, e ela se tornou habitação de demônios, e prisão de todo espírito imundo, e prisão de toda ave impura e odiável;

3porque todas as nações têm bebido do vinho da ira da prostituição dela, e os reis da terra se prostituíram com ela, e os comerciantes da terra se enriqueceram com o poder da sensualidade dela.”

4E eu ouvi outra voz do céu, dizendo: “Saí dela, povo meu! Para que não sejais participantes dos pecados dela, e para que não recebais das pragas dela.

5Porque os pecados dela se acumularam até o céu, e Deus se lembrou das maldades dela.

6Retribuí a ela assim como ela tem vos retribuído, e duplicai a ela em dobro, conforme as obras dela; no cálice em que ela preparou, preparai em dobro para ela.

7O quanto ela glorificou a si mesma, e viveu sensualmente, tanto quanto dai a ela [de] tormento e pranto; porque ela em seu coração diz: ‘Eu estou assentada [como] rainha e não sou viúva, e nenhum pranto eu verei.’

8Portanto em um dia virão as pragas sobre ela: morte, pranto e fome; e ela será queimada com fogo; porque forte [é] o Senhor Deus, que a julga.

9E os reis da terra, que se prostituíram com ela, e viveram sensualmente, prantearão por ela, quando virem a fumaça de sua queima.

10Estando de longe, por medo do tormento dela, dizendo: ‘Ai, ai daquela grande cidade de Babilônia, aquela forte cidade! Porque em uma hora veio o teu julgamento.’

11E os comerciantes da terra choram e lamentam sobre ela, porque ninguém mais compra as mercadorias deles:

12mercadoria de ouro, e de prata, e de pedras preciosas, e de pérolas, e de linho fino, e de púrpura, e de seda, e de escarlate; e de toda madeira aromática, e de todo objeto de marfim, e de todo objeto de madeira valiosíssima, e liga de cobre, e de ferro, e de mármore;

13e canela, e perfumes, e óleo aromático, e incenso, e vinho, e azeite, e farinha fina, e trigo, e gado, e ovelhas; e de cavalos, e de carruagens, e de corpos e almas humanas.

14E o fruto do mau desejo de tua alma foi embora de ti; e todas as coisas deliciosas e excelentes foram embora de ti; e tu não mais as acharás.

15Os comerciantes dessas coisas, que por ela se enriqueceram, estarão de longe por medo do tormento dela, chorando e lamentando,

16E dizendo: ‘Ai, ai daquela grande cidade, que estava vestida de linho fino, e púrpura, e escarlate; e adornada com ouro, pedras preciosas, e pérolas! Porque em uma hora tantas riquezas foram assoladas.’

17E todo capitão de embarcação, e todos da multidão que [estavam] em barcos, e marinheiros, e todos os que trabalham no mar, se puseram de longe;

18e vendo a fumaça da queima dela, clamaram, dizendo: ‘[Havia] algo comparável a esta grande cidade?’

19E eles lançaram pó em suas cabeças, e clamaram, chorando e lamentando, dizendo: ‘Ai, ai daquela grande cidade, em que todos os que tinham barcos no mar se enriqueceram da opulência dela! Porque em uma hora ela foi assolada.’

20“Alegra-te sobre ela, ó céu; e [também] vós santos apóstolos e profetas; porque Deus [já] julgou contra ela a vossa causa.”

21E um forte anjo levantou uma pedra, como uma grande pedra de moinho, e [a] lançou no mar, dizendo: “Com tal violência Babilônia será lançada, aquela grande cidade, e não mais será achada.

22E voz de harpistas, e de músicos, e de flautistas, e de tocadores de trombeta, não mais se ouvirá em ti; e nenhum artesão de toda arte não mais se achará em ti; e ruído de moinho não mais se ouvirá em ti.

23E luz de lâmpada não mais iluminará em ti; e voz de noivo e de noiva não mais se ouvirá em ti; porque teus comerciantes eram os grandes da terra, porque por tuas feitiçarias todas as nações foram enganadas.

24E nela se achou o sangue dos profetas e dos santos, e de todos os que foram mortos sobre a 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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