And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all.

And a strong angel took up a stone, as a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall Babylon the great city be cast down, and shall be found no more at all;

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be no more found.

And one strong messenger did take up a stone as a great millstone, and did cast it to the sea, saying, 'Thus with violence shall Babylon be cast, the great city, and may not be found any more at all;

Then a single angel of great strength took a stone which resembled a huge millstone, and hurled it into the sea, saying, "So shall Babylon, that great city, be violently hurled down and never again be found.

And a strong angel took up a stone like the great stone with which grain is crushed, and sent it into the sea, saying, So, with a great fall, will Babylon, the great town, come to destruction, and will not be seen any more at all.

And a certain strong Angel took up a stone, similar to a great millstone, and he cast it into the sea, saying: "With this force shall Babylon, that great city, be cast down. And she shall never be found again.

Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and threw it into the sea, crying – "So will Babylon, the great city, be violently overthrown, never more to be seen.

And a mighty angel - See the notes on Revelation 18:1. This seems, however, to have been a different angel from the one mentioned in Revelation 18:1, though, like that, he is described as having great power.
Took up a stone like a great millstone - On the structure of mills among the ancients see the notes on Matthew 24:41.
And cast it into the sea - As an emblem of the utter ruin of the city; an indication that the city would be as completely destroyed as that stone was covered by the waters.
Saying, Thus with violence - With force, as the stone was thrown into the sea. The idea is, that it would not be by a gentle and natural decline, but by the application of foreign power. This accords with all the representations in this book, that violence will be employed to overthrow the papal power. See Revelation 17:16-17. The origin of this image is probably Jeremiah 51:63-64; "And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates; and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring on her."

Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down - This action is finely and forcibly expressed by the original words: Οὑτως ὁρμηματι βληθησεται Βαβυλων ἡ μεγαλη πολις. The millstone will in falling have not only an accelerated force from the law of gravitation, but that force will be greatly increased by the projectile force impressed upon it by the power of the destroying angel.
Shall be found no more at all - In her government, consequence, or influence. This is true of ancient Babylon; we are not certain even of the place where it stood. It is also true of Jerusalem; her government, consequence, and influence are gone. It is not true of Rome pagan; nor, as yet, of Rome papal: the latter still exists, and the former is most intimately blended with it; for in her religions service Rome papal has retained her language, and many of her heathen temples has she dedicated to saints real or reputed, and incorporated many of her superstitions and absurdities in a professedly Christian service. It is true also that many idols are now restored under the names of Christian saints!

(13) And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
(13) The third prediction, as I said See Revelation 18:1 based on a sign, and the interpretation of it: the interpretation of it is in two sorts, first by a simple proposal of the thing itself, in this verse, and then by declaration of the events, in the verses following.

And a mighty angel,.... Not Christ, nor one of the ministering spirits, but some man or set of men, perhaps the same with him in Revelation 18:1
took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea; just as Jeremiah took a stone and bound it to his book after he had read it, and cast it into the river Euphrates, as a sign and token of the destruction of old Babylon, Jeremiah 51:63
saying, thus with violence shall that great city be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all; which is expressive of the utter destruction of Rome, and of the violence, force, and power with which it will be destroyed, and of the suddenness and swiftness of its destruction, and of the irrecoverableness of its state and condition.

a--Greek, "one."
millstone--Compare the judgment on the Egyptian hosts at the Red Sea, Exodus 15:5, Exodus 15:10; Nehemiah 9:11, and the foretold doom of Babylon, the world power, Jeremiah 51:63-64.
with violence--Greek, "with impetus." This verse shows that this prophecy is regarded as still to be fulfilled.

And a strong angel took up a millstone. See Jeremiah 51:61-64. This symbolical act implies an utter destruction. In Jeremiah the stone is cast into the Euphrates. Now it is cast into the sea, because another Babylon is designed.
And the voice of harpers. It is this third angel who declares the silence and desolation of the city now.
And the sound of the millstone. In the mills grinding food for the people. The mills were hand-mills, usually worked by women as a domestic duty.
For with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived. This accounts for the fact that all nations poured their treasures into her lap.
And in her was found the blood of the prophets. It is because she has slain the saints of the Most High that these judgments come upon her. As Jerusalem in the time of Christ filled up the measure of the sins of Israel (see Matthew 23:29, Matthew 23:35-36; Luke 11:51; Luke 13:33), so the spiritual Babylon, the great persecutor, fills up the measure of the sins of the beast and false prophet, and is required to account for the blood of slaughtered prophets and saints of all ages.

And a mighty angel took up a stone, and threw it into the sea - By a like emblem Jeremiah fore - showed the fall of the Chaldean Babylon, Jeremiah 51:63-64.