Bible Strands
Revelation 18:5
For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — An unseen heavenly voice addresses John's vision, explaining the impending judgment on Babylon immediately after commanding God's people to separate from her.
The words — ἐκολλήθησαν (ekollēthēsan) means "they were heaped" or "piled up," and ἄχρι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (achri tou ouranou) literally translates to "as high as heaven," describing the vertical accumulation of wrongdoing.
The thread — The accumulation of sin and divine remembrance runs through the grievous outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20), the confession of iniquities exceeding measure (Ezra 9:6), and the announced judgment on Babylon (Jeremiah 51:9).
Why it lands — The text states that God has remembered accumulated iniquities before declaring the required separation and reciprocal judgment in the surrounding verses.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Cross-references
- Genesis 18:20 Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,
- Ezra 9:6 and 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.
- Jeremiah 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.”
- Revelation 16:19 The 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 Chronicles 28:9 But 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.