For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Parallel translations
- WEB for her sins have reached to the sky, and God has remembered her iniquities.
- KJV For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
- NKJV For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
- NASB for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her offenses.
- NLT For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God remembers her evil deeds.
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
Her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. No accumulated evil escapes His notice.
Overview
The image of sins reaching the sky recalls the tower of Babel and shows the immense weight of Babylon's guilt. God 'remembering' means He now acts in judgment, for nothing is forgotten before Him. This assures the persecuted that injustice is recorded and will be addressed by a righteous God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Gen 18:20–21Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,
- Ezra 9:6and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
- Jer 51:9“We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.”
- Rev 16:19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.
- Jonah 1:2“Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
- 2 Chr 28:9But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.
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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 18:5 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.