Revelation 18:23

Revelation 18:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the light of a candle 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 great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
• New International Version (NIV)The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
• English Standard Version (ESV)and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.

Context of Revelation 18:23

21Then a powerful angel picked up a very big, heavy stone. He threw it into the sea. He said, ‘God will throw you down, Babylon! You are a great city, but God will throw you down like this stone. Nobody will ever see you again! 22Nobody will ever hear music in the city again. Nobody will sing there. Nobody will make music with harps, or with flutes, or with trumpets. There will never be workers who make things in the city. Nobody will ever hear the sound of people who make flour again. No light from people's lamps will ever shine in the city again. Nobody will ever hear the happy voices of a man and a woman when they marry. Your traders were the most powerful people on the earth. You used your magic to deceive people from all nations. 24Your people killed God's people and his prophets. Their blood lies on the ground in the city. The blood of everyone on earth that people have killed is also there. This shows that you are guilty of their murder.’

Revelation 18:23 word by word

καὶ φῶς λύχνου οὐ μὴ φάνῃ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι, καὶ φωνὴ νυμφίου καὶ νύμφης οὐ μὴ ἀκουσθῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι, ὅτι οἱ ἔμποροί σου ἦσαν οἱ μεγιστᾶνες τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• the lightφῶςphōs · lightG5457
• of a candleλύχνοςluchnos · lampG3088
• shall shineφαίνωphainō · to shine/appearG5316
• noοὐou · noG3756
• moreἔτιeti · stillG2089
• at allμήmē · notG3361
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• theeσύsu · youG4771
• the voiceφωνήphōnē · voice/sound: voiceG5456
• of the bridegroomνυμφίοςnumphios · bridegroomG3566
• of the brideνύμφηnumphē · brideG3565
• shall be heardἀκούωakouō · to hearG191
• forὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• merchantsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• merchantsἔμποροςemporos · trader/merchantG1713
• wereεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• the great menμεγιστάνmegistanes · great manG3175
• of the earthγῆgē · earth: planetG1093
• sorceriesφαρμακείαpharmakeia · sorceryG5331
• wereπλανάωplanaō · to lead astrayG4105
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• nationsἔθνοςethnos · GentilesG1484

Cross-references for Revelation 18:23

• Revelation 22:5There will be no more night, so nobody will need a lamp to make light. They will not need light from the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them. They will rule as kings for ever.
• Job 21:17It seems that wicked people enjoy a long life. They do not often have many troubles. When God is angry with them, he does not cause them to suffer.
• Proverbs 4:18The life of righteous people is like the sun at dawn. It gets brighter and brighter until midday.
• Proverbs 24:20A wicked person has nothing to hope for in the future. His life will end suddenly.
• Revelation 18:22Nobody will ever hear music in the city again. Nobody will sing there. Nobody will make music with harps, or with flutes, or with trumpets. There will never be workers who make things in the city. Nobody will ever hear the sound of people who make flour again.
• Revelation 18:3She has been like a prostitute who makes men become drunk. Then she leads them to have sex in a wrong way. She has caused people from every nation to turn away from God. It is like all the kings of the earth have had sex with that bad woman. All the traders of the earth have become rich, because she has bought things from them to enjoy a wicked life.’
• Isaiah 23:8It is a royal city and its traders are princes. They are famous everywhere on earth. So who decided to destroy it?
• Ezekiel 27:24They brought beautiful clothes made with expensive cloth. They also brought carpets that were made with threads of many different colours. And they brought strong ropes. They brought these things to sell in your markets.
• Revelation 12:9Michael and his angels threw the great dragon out of heaven. The dragon is called the Devil or Satan. He is the snake who has been there since long ago. He tells lies to deceive the whole world. They threw him down to the earth, together with all his angels.
• Revelation 13:13The second wild animal did great miracles. It even caused fire to come down from heaven to the earth, while people watched.
• Revelation 17:2It is like the kings who rule on the earth have had sex with that bad woman. She has led the people who live on the earth to do bad things. They have become drunk from the strong wine that she has given to them.’
• Revelation 21:8But I will punish other people. They include: people who are afraid of trouble; people who do not believe in Jesus; people who do disgusting things; people who murder other people; people who have sex in a wrong way; people who use magic to hurt people; people who worship idols; people who tell lies. All these people will go into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. That is the second death for people.’
• Revelation 22:15But other people must stay outside the city: wicked people; people who do magic; people who have sex in a wrong way; people who murder other people; people who worship idols; everyone who likes to tell lies and deceive people.
• 2 Kings 9:22When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, ‘Have you come as a friend, Jehu?’ Jehu replied, ‘We cannot be friends. Your mother Jezebel still causes people to worship idols and to use magic.’
• Isaiah 47:9But both of those things will happen to you! They will happen suddenly, in only one day. You will lose your children and you will become a widow. All these troubles will come to hurt you. You can use all your powerful magic but you will not stop this trouble!
• Nahum 3:4This is because Nineveh has sold herself to the enemies of God. She is like a beautiful prostitute. She uses her body and her bad magic to make all the people in other countries her slaves.

Commentaries on Revelation 18:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23By thy sorceries - Political arts, state tricks, counterfeit miracles, and deceptive maneuvers of every kind. This may be spoken of many great cities of the world, which still continue to flourish!Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee - Another image of desolation, as if every light were put out, and there were total darkness. And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee - The merry and cheerful voice of the marriage procession in the streets (notes on Matthew 25:1-7), or the cheerful, glad voice of the newly-married couple in their own dwelling (notes on John 3:29). For thy merchants…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-24Verses 20-24 That which is matter of rejoicing to the servants of God on earth, is matter of rejoicing to the angels in heaven. The apostles, who are honoured and daily worshipped at Rome in an idolatrous manner, will rejoice in her fall. The fall of Babylon was an act of God's justice. And because it was a final ruin, this enemy should never molest them any more; of this they were assured by a sign. Let us take warning from the things which brought…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23Compare Jeremiah 25:10–11.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. What a blessed contrast is Re 22:5, respecting the city of God: "They need no candle (just as Babylon shall no more have the light of a candle, but for a widely different reason), for the Lord God giveth them light." candle--Translate as Greek, "lamp." bridegroom ... bride ... no more ... in thee--Contrast the heavenly city, with its Bridegroom, Bride, and blessed marriage supper (Re 19:7, 9; 21:2, 9; Is 62:4, 5). thy merchants were--So most of the…Read the comment

Topics related to Revelation 18:23

• Merchant

In the dictionaries

• Fill
• Foul
• Mighty
• Thy
• Israel, History of
• Israel, Religion of
• Judges, Period of
• Marriage
• Master
• Micah (1)

Commentaries on Revelation 18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings