# Revelation 18.23

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-10-06 | updated: 2026-10-06 -->

**Book:** [Revelation](/codex/revelation/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 21. And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all. 22. And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee;
>
> **23. and the light of a lamp 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 princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived.**
>
> 24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth. (Revelation 18:21-24, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 21. A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all. 22. The voice of harpists, minstrels, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. No craftsman, of whatever craft, will be found any more at all in you. The sound of a mill will be heard no more at all in you.
>
> **23. The 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.**
>
> 24. In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.” (Revelation 18:21-24, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 21. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. 22. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
>
> **23. 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.**
>
> 24. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. (Revelation 18:21-24, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 21. And one strong messenger did take up a stone as a great millstone, and did cast [it] to the sea, saying, 'Thus with violence shall Babylon be cast, the great city, and may not be found any more at all; 22. and voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters, may not be heard at all in thee any more; and any artisan of any art may not be found at all in thee any more; and noise of a millstone may not be heard at all in thee any more;
>
> **23. and light of a lamp may not shine at all in thee any more; and voice of bridegroom and of bride may not be heard at all in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great ones of the earth, because in thy sorcery were all the nations led astray,**
>
> 24. and in her blood of prophets and of saints was found, and of all those who have been slain on the earth.' (Revelation 18:21-24, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** _TBD_
- **Audience:** _TBD_
- **Location:** _TBD_
- **Time period:** _TBD_

## Theological reading

_Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._

- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_
- _TBD_

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## Quoted in

**Arguments and defeaters:**

- [Communion Is Witchcraft Objection Defeater](/codex/communion-is-witchcraft-objection-defeater/)

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## Notes

_Your annotations._

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.
