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Revelation 18:11

The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods.
Revelation 18:11 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more;
  • KJV And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth 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—

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 the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury.”
  • Ezek 27:27–36Your riches, and your wares, your merchandise, your mariners, and your pilots, your repairers of ship seams, and the dealers in your merchandise, and all your men of war, who are in you, with all your company which is among you, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of your ruin.
  • Rev 18:23The light of a lamp will shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will be heard no more at all in you; for your merchants were the princes of the earth; for with your sorcery all the nations were deceived.
  • Rev 13:16–17He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads;
  • Rev 18:20“Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”
  • Ezek 26:17–21They shall take up a lamentation over you, and tell you, How you are destroyed, who were inhabited by seafaring men, the renowned city, who was strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, who caused their terror to be on all who lived there!
  • Zeph 1:11Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the people of Canaan are undone! All those who were loaded with silver are cut off.
  • Rev 18:15The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, will stand far away for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning;
  • Isa 47:15The things that you labored in will be like this: those who have trafficked with you from your youth will each wander in his own way. There will be no one to save you.
  • Zeph 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath, but the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he will make an end, yes, a terrible end, of all those who dwell in the land.
  • Rev 18:9The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning,
  • Isa 23:1–15The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in. From the land of Kittim it is revealed to them.
  • 2 Pet 2:3In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
  • Matt 22:5But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise,
  • John 2:16To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
  • Prov 3:14For her good profit is better than getting silver, and her return is better than fine gold.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Revelation videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Revelation 18:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on RevelationMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.