Revelation 18:9
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,
Study Note
Study Note
The lament of the kings of the earth over Babylon's fall — weeping and wailing when they see the smoke of her burning — enacts a three-part sequence of mourners: kings (vv. 9–10), merchants (vv. 11–17), and shipmasters (vv. 17–19), each group lamenting the economic infrastructure on which they depended. The motif draws on Ezekiel's lament over Tyre (Ezekiel 26–27) where sea-captains, merchants, and neighboring kings mourn in the same sequence, establishing a literary template that John adapts for his Roman critique. The phrase 'committed fornication and lived deliciously' (eporneusan kai estrēniasen) accuses the kings of ideological as well as commercial complicity — participation in Rome's religious and commercial system is itself a form of spiritual adultery. The passage provides a biblical framework for analyzing the economics of empire as inherently entangled with spiritual compromise.
Other Translations
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,
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,
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,
Cross References
It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation …
And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall …
For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: …
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and …
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, …
And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in …