And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

And the light of the lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for all nations have been deceived by thy enchantments.

and light of lamp shall shine no more at all in thee, and voice of bridegroom and bride shall be heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were the great ones of the earth; for by thy sorcery have all the nations been deceived.

and light of a lamp may not shine at all in thee any more; and voice of bridegroom and of bride may not be heard at all in thee any more; because thy merchants were the great ones of the earth, because in thy sorcery were all the nations led astray,

Never again shall the light of a lamp shine in thee, and never again shall the voice of a bridegroom or of a bride be heard in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth, and with the magic which thou didst practise all nations were led astray.

And never again will the shining of lights be seen in you; and the voice of the newly-married man and the bride will never again be sounding in you: for your traders were the lords of the earth, and by your evil powers were all the nations turned out of the right way.

And the light of the lamp shall not shine in you again. And the voice of the groom and of the bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the leaders of the earth. For all the nations were led astray by your drugs.

no more will the light of a lamp shine in you; no more will the voices of groom and bride be heard in you. Your merchants were the great men of the earth, for all the nations were deceived by your magical charms."

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee - Another image of desolation, as if every light were put out, and there were total darkness.
And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee - The merry and cheerful voice of the marriage procession in the streets (notes on Matthew 25:1-7), or the cheerful, glad voice of the newly-married couple in their own dwelling (notes on John 3:29).
For thy merchants were the great men of the earth - Those who dealt with thee were the rich, and among them were even nobles and princes; and now that they trade with thee no more there is occasion for lamentation and sorrow. The contrast is great between the time when distinguished foreigners crowded thy marts, and now, when none of any kind come to traffic with thee. The origin of this representation is probably the description of Tyre in Ezek. 27.
For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived - This is stated as a reason for the ruin that had come upon her. It is a common representation of papal Rome that she has deceived or deluded the nations of the earth (see the notes on Revelation 13:14), and no representation ever made accords more with facts as they have occurred. The word "sorceries" here refers to the various arts the tricks impostures, and false pretences by which this has been done. See the notes on Revelation 9:21.

By thy sorceries - Political arts, state tricks, counterfeit miracles, and deceptive maneuvers of every kind. This may be spoken of many great cities of the world, which still continue to flourish!

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee,.... Either for common use, or at feasts, or at marriages, which being kept at night, required candies, lamps, or torches; this shows that Babylon, or Rome, shall be deprived of everything, even of the least thing that is comfortable in life; see Jeremiah 25:10 this will be a just punishment upon her for her abuse of this blessing of life; so where wax candles in great numbers have been burning in the daytime, there will not be so much as a single candle to give light in the night; and where candles have been lighted up for the dead, there will not be one for the use of the living:
and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: there will be no marrying, nor giving in marriage; no procreation of children, or propagation of posterity, in this place; which denotes the utter extirpation of the inhabitants of it; the phrases are taken from Jeremiah 7:34 Jeremiah 25:10 and this will be in righteous retaliation for the prohibition of marriage; which God has instituted, and is honourable, 1-Timothy 4:2 the reasons of Babylon's destruction follow:
for thy merchants were the great men of the earth: in allusion to the merchants of Tyre, said to be princes, Isaiah 23:8 for by trading and dealing in the wares and merchandise of Rome, persons of mean extract, and of very low circumstances of life, have grown exceeding rich, and have equalled the princes of the earth; as for instance, Cardinal Wolsey here in England, a butcher's son at Ipswich; and on the other hand, the princes and great men of the earth have become Rome's merchants, and have thought it an high honour to get a cardinal's hat, as the Cardinals Albertus duke of Austria, Bourbon, Pool, and others, mentioned by Brightman:
for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived; meaning her false doctrines, traditions, idolatry, superstition, and will worship, with which, as another Jezebel, she has bewitched, allured, and deceived the nations of the empire, and the kings thereof, Revelation 18:3.

What a blessed contrast is Revelation 22:5, respecting the city of God: "They need no candle (just as Babylon shall no more have the light of a candle, but for a widely different reason), for the Lord God giveth them light."
candle--Translate as Greek, "lamp."
bridegroom . . . bride . . . no more . . . in thee--Contrast the heavenly city, with its Bridegroom, Bride, and blessed marriage supper (Revelation 19:7, Revelation 19:9; Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:9; Isaiah 62:4-5).
thy merchants were--So most of the best authorities read. But A omits the Greek article before "merchants," and then translates, "The great men of . . . were thy merchants."
sorceries--Greek, "sorcery."

For thy merchants were the great men of the earth - A circumstance which was in itself indifferent, and yet led them into pride, luxury, and numberless other sins.