And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Parallel translations
- WEB The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more;
- BSB And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because there is no one left to buy their cargo—
- NKJV “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:
- NASB “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more—
- NLT The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The merchants weep because no one buys their goods anymore. Babylon's fall destroys the markets that depended on her.
Overview
The second group of mourners, the merchants, grieve the collapse of their trade rather than any moral loss. Their sorrow is self-interested, lamenting profit rather than sin. The passage exposes how an economy built on godless luxury crumbles when its idol falls, leaving its servants bereft.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Rev 18:3For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
- Ezek 27:27–36Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.
- Rev 18:23And 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.
- Rev 13:16–17And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
- Rev 18:20Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
- Ezek 26:17–21And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!
- Zeph 1:11Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
- Rev 18:15The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
- Isa 47:15Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.
- Zeph 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
- Rev 18:9And 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,
- Isa 23:1–15The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.
- 2 Pet 2:3And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
- Matt 22:5But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
- John 2:16And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
- Prov 3:14For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 18:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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