Revelation 18:9

The World Mourns Babylon's Fall

9 The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and lived luxuriously with her will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning.

Revelation 18:9 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 18:9

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication,
&c.] Idolatry, ( Revelation 17:2 ) ( 18:3 )

and lived deliciously with her;
( Revelation 18:3 Revelation 18:7 ) joining with her in her sensual, as well as in her idolatrous practices:

shall bewail her, and lament for her:
shall mourn inwardly, and by various gestures outwardly express their sorrow at her desolation; see ( Ezekiel 27:30-32 ) these will not be the ten kings who will burn the whore with fire, and then repent of what they have done, and weep over her, as Titus did at the destruction of Jerusalem, as some Popish writers have fancied, for they will hate the whore, and eat her flesh; but earthly and idolatrous kings, who will be in the communion of the church of Rome:

when they shall see the smoke of her burning:
as Abraham saw the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah go up like the smoke of a furnace; by which they will perceive that her judgment is come, and her ruin begun.

Revelation 18:9 In-Context

7 As much as she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give her that much torment and grief. Because she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never see grief,'

8 therefore her plagues will come in one day- death, and grief, and famine. She will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is mighty.

9 The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and lived luxuriously with her will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning.

10 They stand far off in fear of her torment, saying: Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in a single hour your judgment has come.

11 The merchants of the earth will also weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise any longer-