Revelation 18 · Verse 4

Revelation 18:4

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Revelation 18:4, King James Version

Revelation 18:4 in other translations

BSB	Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.
WEB	I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you don’t receive of her plagues,
ASV	And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:
YLT	And I heard another voice out of the heaven, saying, ‘Come forth out of her, My people, that ye may not partake with her sins, and that ye may not receive of her plagues,
DARBY	And I heard another voice out of the heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins, and that ye do not receive of her plagues:
BBE	And another voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Come out of her, my people, so that you may have no part in her sins and in her punishments.
Webster	And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

What does Revelation 18:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

4. Come out of her, my people--quoted from Jr 50:8; 51:6, 45. Even in the Romish Church God has a people: but they are in great danger; their only safety is in coming out of her at once. So also in every apostate or world-conforming church there are some of God's invisible and true Church, who, if they would be safe, must come out. Especially at the eve of God's judgment on apostate Christendom: as Lot was warned to come out of Sodom just before its destruction, and Israel to come from about the tents of Dathan and Abiram. So the first Christians came out of Jerusalem when the apostate Jewish Church was judged. "State and Church are precious gifts of God. But the State being desecrated to a different end from what God designed it, namely. to govern for, and as under, God, becomes beast-like; the Church apostatizing becomes the harlot. The true woman is the kernel: beast and harlot are the shell: whenever the kernel is mature, the shell is thrown away" [Auberlen]. "The harlot is not Rome alone (though she is pre-eminently so), but every Church that has not Christ's mind and spirit. False Christendom, divided into very many sects, is truly Babylon, that is, confusion. However, in all Christendom the true Jesus-congregation, the woman clothed with the sun, lives and is hidden. Corrupt, lifeless Christendom is the harlot, whose great aim is the pleasure of the flesh, and which is governed by the spirit of nature and the world" [Hahn in Auberlen]. The first justification of the woman is in her being called out of Babylon the harlot, as the culminating stage of the latter's sin, when judgment is about to fall: for apostate Christendom, Babylon, is not to be converted, but to be destroyed. Secondly, she has to pass through an ordeal of persecution from the beast, which purifies and prepares her for the transfiguration glory at Christ's coming (Re 20:4; Lu 21:28). be not partakers--Greek, "have no fellowship with her sins." that ye receive not of her plagues--as Lot's wife, by lingering too near the polluted and doomed city.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 4. And I heard another voice from heaven. He does not say whether this was the voice of an angel, but the idea seems rather to be that it is the voice of God.

Come out of her, my people. The reasons for this, as immediately stated, are two:

(a) that they might not participate in her sins; and

(b) that they might not be involved in the ruin that would come upon her. The language seems to be derived from such passages in the Old Testament as the following: Isa 48:20, "Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing." Jer 51:6, "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity." Jer 51:45, "My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord." Compare Jer 1:8.

That ye be not partakers of her sins. For the meaning of this expression, 1Timm 5:22. It is implied here that by remaining in Babylon they would lend their sanction to its sins by their presence, and would, in all probability, become contaminated by the influence around them. This is an universal truth in regard to iniquity, and hence it is the duty of those who would be pure to come out from the world, and to separate themselves from all the associations of evil.

And that ye receive not of her plagues. Of the punishment that was to come upon her--as they must certainly do if they remained in her. The judgment of God that was to come upon the guilty city would make no discrimination among those who were found there; and if they would escape these woes, they must make their escape from her. As applicable to Papal Rome, in view of her impending ruin, this means

(a) that there might be found in her some who were the true people of God;

(b) that it was their duty to separate wholly from her--a command that will not only justify the Reformation, but which would have made a longer continuance in communion with the Papacy, when her wickedness was fully seen, an act of guilt before God;

(c) that they who remain in such a communion cannot but be regarded as partaking of her sin; and

(d) that if they remain, they must expect to be involved in the calamities that will come upon her. There never was any duty plainer than that of withdrawing from Papal Rome; there never has been any act attended with more happy consequences than that by which the Protestant world separated itself for ever from the sins and the plagues of the Papacy.

(f) "Come out of her" Isa 48:20, 52:11, Jer 50:8, 51:6,45, 2Cor 6:17

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 4 Come out of her, my people - These words appear to be taken from Isa 48:20; Jer 1:8; Jer 51:6, Jer 51:45. The poet Mantuanus expresses this thought well: - Vivere qui sancte cupitis, discelite; Romae Omnia quum liceant, non licet esse bonum. "Ye who desire to live a godly life, depart; for, although all things are lawful at Rome, yet to be godly is unlawful.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Revelation 18:1-8

The downfal and destruction of the mystical Babylon are determined in the counsels of God. Another angel comes from heaven. This seems to be Christ himself, coming to destroy his enemies, and to shed abroad the light of his gospel through all nations. The wickedness of this Babylon was very great; she had forsaken the true God, and set up idols, and had drawn all sorts of men into spiritual adultery, and by her…

Read the full comment on Revelation 18:1-8 →

Revelation 18:4 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ΚαὶKaiAndG2532

ἤκουσαēkousaI heardG191

ἄλληνallēnanotherG243

φωνὴνphōnēnvoiceG5456

ἐκekfromG1537

τοῦtou<the>G3588

οὐρανοῦouranouheavenG3772

λέγουσαν·legousansaying:G3004

ἐξέλθατεexelthatedo comeG1831

ὁhoyou who [are]G3588

λαόςlaospeopleG2992

μουmouof mineG3165

ἐξexfromG1537

αὐτῆς,autēsher,G846

ἵναinaso thatG2443

μὴmēnotG3361

συγκοινωνήσητεsugkoinōnēsēteyou may have fellowshipG4790

ταῖςtaisin theG3588

ἁμαρτίαιςhamartiaissinsG266

αὐτῆς,autēsof her,G846

καὶkaiandG2532

ἐκekofG1537

τῶνtōntheG3588

πληγῶνplēgōnplaguesG4127

αὐτῆςautēsof herG846

ἵναinaso thatG2443

μὴmēnotG3361

λάβητε·labēteyou may receive;G2983

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Revelation 18:4

2 Corinthians 6:17
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
Isaiah 52:11
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.
Jeremiah 51:6
Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
Jeremiah 51:45
My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.
Jeremiah 50:8
Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
Isaiah 48:20
Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
1 Timothy 5:22
Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.
2 John 1:11
For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Psalms 50:18
When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.
Genesis 19:12-13
And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.
Numbers 16:26-27
And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
Jeremiah 51:50
Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Come.
Ge 19:12,13; Nu 16:26,27; Isa 48:20; 52:11; Jer 50:8; 51:6,45,50
Mt 24:15,16; 2Co 6:17
partakers.
Ps 50:18; Mt 23:30; 1Ti 5:22; 2Jo 1:11

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Revelation 18:3
For 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.
Revelation 18:4
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Revelation 18:5
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Read all of Revelation 18

Revelation 18:4 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y oí otra voz del cielo, que decía: Salid de ella, pueblo mío, porque no seáis participantes de sus pecados, y que no recibáis de sus plagas;
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et j’entendis une autre voix venant du ciel, disant: Sortez du milieu d’elle, mon peuple, afin que vous ne participiez pas à ses péchés et que vous ne receviez pas de ses plaies:
German Elberfelder 1871	Und ich hörte eine andere Stimme aus dem Himmel sagen: Gehet aus ihr hinaus, mein Volk, auf daß ihr nicht ihrer Sünden mitteilhaftig werdet, und auf daß ihr nicht empfanget von ihren Plagen;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et audivi aliam vocem de cælo, dicentem: Exite de illa populus meus: ut ne participes sitis delictorum ejus, et de plagis ejus non accipiatis.