1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Revelation of John 18:1 | And after these things I saw another Angel coming down from heaven, having great power: and the earth was enlightened with his glory. | |
| Revelation of John 18:2 | And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: *Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen: and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird: Isaias 21:9.; Jeremias 51:8.; Apocalypse 14:8. | Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. Idolatrous Rome is fallen. That mighty seat of power and dominion is fallen. The long fixed abode of voluptuousness and luxury, for the merchants of the earth have become rich by the strength of her delicacies, and now the hand of God hath struck her. It is utterly destroyed; not a human being in it. Thus it is become an accursed place, given up for an habitation of devils and a hold of every unclean spirit, or of frightful spectres and ghosts, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird, of owls, ravens, vultures, etc. etc. (Pastorini) |
| Revelation of John 18:3 | Because 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 have become rich by the strength of her delicacies. | |
| Revelation of John 18:4 | And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Go out from her, my people: that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. | Go out from her, my people. The people of God, the Christians, are all here told to leave the falling city, lest they be partakers of her sins, and receive of her plagues. At the time of Alaric's sacking Rome, many fled away to St. Jerome, who was then in Judea; others fled into other parts, as many holy fathers testify. St. Jerome says, (Ep. vii) that St. Paula and several illustrious Christian families had left Rome as if by particular inspiration, and retired into Judea. The holy pope Innocent was drawn by a particular providence out of the city, as Lot out of Sodom, that he might not see the ruin of a guilty people, says Orosius, lib. 7. ch. XXXIX. We read likewise that Melania, as if she foresaw the approaching catastrophe, had prevailed upon many Christians to retire with her from a city doomed to destruction. (Histor. Laus. ch. CXVIII.) In fine, we all know that when the storm broke out, the Christians took refuge and were saved in the Churches of St. Peter and St. Paul, which Alaric had allowed to be places of safety. (Haydock) |
| Revelation of John 18:5 | For her sins have reached to heaven, and the Lord hath remembered her iniquities. | |
| Revelation of John 18:6 | Render to her as she also hath rendered to you: and double ye the double according to her works: in the cup, wherein she hath mingled, mingle unto her double. | |
| Revelation of John 18:7 | As much as she hath glorified herself, and hath been in delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give unto her: because she saith in her heart: *I sit a queen, and am not a widow: and sorrow I shall not see. Isaias 47:8. | |
| Revelation of John 18:8 | Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be burnt with the fire: because God is strong, who shall judge her. | |
| Revelation of John 18:9 | And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication, and lived in delicacies with her, shall weep, and bewail themselves over her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning: | |
| Revelation of John 18:10 | Standing afar off for fear of her torments, saying: Alas! alas! that great city, Babylon, that mighty city: for in one hour is thy judgment come. | Alas! alas! St. Augustine informs us, that the people of the eastern provinces, and the remotest cities, mourned in a public manner on this occasion. (De Civ. Dei. lib. 1, ch. XXXIII.) |
| Revelation of John 18:11 | And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her: for no man shall buy their merchandise any more: | |
| Revelation of John 18:12 | Merchandise of gold, and silver, and of precious stones, and pearls, and of fine linen, and purple, and of silk, and scarlet, (and all thyine wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner of vessels of precious stone, and of brass, and iron, and marble, | |
| Revelation of John 18:13 | And cinnamon) and odours and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. | We see here enumerated the articles of the luxury of the pagan Romans in dress, in ornaments, in furniture, in equipage, in the sumptuousness of their tables, etc. etc. Nothing is more remarkable than the extravagant luxury and profusion of some of the Roman emperors at their tables. Caligula once spent (according to Seneca) for a supper, 150,000 crowns. Suetonius tells us, that the emperor Vitellius would feast himself thrice, and often four times in a day, spending 10,000 crowns at each meal. But now they are all gone; they are now the fuel of fire, and in one hour brought to nought. (Haydock) |
| Revelation of John 18:14 | And the fruits of the desire of thy soul are departed from thee, and all fat, and goodly things are perished from thee, and they shall no more find them. | |
| Revelation of John 18:15 | The merchants of these things, who were made rich, shall stand afar off from her, for fear of her torments, weeping and mourning. | |
| Revelation of John 18:16 | And saying: Alas! alas! that great city, which was clothed with fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and was gilded with gold, and precious stones, and pearls: | |
| Revelation of John 18:17 | For in one hour are so great riches come to nothing: and every ship-master, and every one that sails into the lake, and mariners, and they that work at sea, stood afar off, | |
| Revelation of John 18:18 | And cried out, seeing the place of her burning, saying: What city is like to this great city? | |
| Revelation of John 18:19 | And they cast dust upon their heads, and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying: Alas! alas! that great city, wherein all were made rich, who had ships at sea, by reason of her prices: for in one hour she is made desolate. | |
| Revelation of John 18:20 | Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles, and prophets: for God hath judged your judgment on her. | Rejoice....heaven, the holy apostles and prophets, and all the holy ministers of the gospel: and holy men are invited here to rejoice, because the divine justice is accomplished in the ruin of that guilty city. (Pastorini) --- By the words prophets, etc. are not meant those of the old law, as pagan Rome had not been the cause of their deaths, but here only includes all the prophets, saints, and martyrs, who had been put to death for Christ throughout the whole Roman empire. (Haydock) |
| Revelation of John 18:21 | And a mighty Angel took up a stone, as it were a great mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying: With this violence shall Babylon, that great city, be thrown down, and shall now be found no more. | |
| Revelation of John 18:22 | And the voice of harpers, and of musicians, and of them that play on the pipe, and on the trumpet, shall no more be heard in thee: and no craftsmen of any art whatsoever shall be found any more in thee: and the sound of the mill shall be heard no more in thee: | |
| Revelation of John 18:23 | And the light of the lamp shall shine no more in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride shall be heard no more in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for all nations have been deceived by thy sorceries. | |
| Revelation of John 18:24 | And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints: and of all who were slain upon the earth. |