Revelation 18:11

The merchants also lament over the destruction of this system, further indicating that this is a different system than the religious one symbolized in chapter 17. The collapse of economic Babylon results in merchants being unable to buy and sell goods. They sorrow over the loss of customers and profits that its destruction causes. However the city itself is a treasure that they also regret losing (cf. Ezekiel 27:25-31). [Note: Beasley-Murray, p. 267; Wall, p. 216.] The wailing of the merchants is greater than that of the kings and sea people in this context because their loss is greater. They bemoan the loss of customers, but they previously denied the right to buy and sell to anyone who did not have the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:17).