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of the things seen according to what was said by Haggai: Yet once more I will shake not only heaven but also the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all the nations. Therefore it is also noted that one such as he says has never been. And it says, the great city was divided into three parts; and the cities of the nations fell. He says the great city concerning Jerusalem, and it is clear from how he contrasts the cities of the nations with it; for it is the custom of the divine scripture to call the rest 182 of the people, apart from Israel, nations. He calls it great, as it is renowned. But all the cities fell; for with the earth being transformed and made new, how was it possible for the cities in it to stand, having been polluted by the habitation of sinners? And it says, great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. In the preceding passages it is said, And a second angel followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great; but in the present passage, by speaking to us of another Babylon, he gives us to understand that he means not that one, but signifies a certain other one. And I think he speaks of Rome and of those who will then possess it, as the discourse will teach as it proceeds. Therefore he says, and great Babylon was remembered before God. That is, a remembrance of her ancient sins, when they persecuted and killed the saints, has occurred with God, and the cup of the wine of the wrath of God has already been interpreted; therefore there is no need to be redundant and he says, every island fled away and the mountains were not found. The churches from the nations are called islands, as the prophet says: The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad. They are called islands, as having emerged and risen above the bitter and salty idolatry. But one might also understand islands, in another sense, as the unclean orders of demons, as wallowing in this salty and easily overturned life. And concerning the mountains, that he means demons, the divine psalmist also shows, singing the mountains melted like wax from the presence of the Lord, because he is coming. Therefore, the discourse hands down to us that the orders of demons will at that time become vanished and unseen. But 183 where might the wretches flee from the face of God, in whose hand are the ends of the earth, who measured the heaven with a span and the earth with a handful? Except that those who are smitten by the events will attempt a useless escape and flight. With these things happening and an extraordinary hail rushing down, the people of that time ought to have turned to litanies and prayers. For the terrors against them would have ceased, but they even blasphemed God, for which reason the evils are also intensified for them. And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying: Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and those who dwell on the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns; and the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the unclean things of the fornication of the earth, and on her forehead a name written: a mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. The vision, having fulfilled the things concerning the consummation of the present age and the events that will then take place, comes to another matter, 184 wishing to show the evangelist the things concerning Rome. And he says, he said to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the prostitute who sits on many waters, by judgment meaning the conduct and the way of life in which she has judged to be and which she practices. He calls her a prostitute, as one who fornicates away from God and is an apostate; for this has been named fornication by the divine scripture, according to what was said by the prophet to the God of all: You have destroyed everyone who is unfaithful to you.

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ὁρωμένων κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον τῷ Ἀγγαίῳ· ἔτι ἅπαξ ἐγὼ σείω οὐ μόνον τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τὴν ξηράν, καὶ συσσείσω πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. διὸ καὶ ἐπισημαίνεται οἷός φησιν οὐ γέγονε ποτέ. καὶ ἐγένετό φησιν ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη εἰς τρία μέρη· καὶ αἱ πόλεις τῶν ἐθνῶν ἔπεσαν. περὶ τῆς Ἱερουσαλήμ φησιν ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη καὶ δῆλον ἐξ ὧν ἀντιδιαστέλλει ταύτῃ τὰς πόλεις τῶν ἐθνῶν· τοῦ γὰρ Ἰσραὴλ χωρὶς τοὺς λοιποὺς 182 ἀνθρώπους ἔθνη καλεῖν ἔθος τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ. μεγάλην δὲ αὐτὴν λέγει, ὡς περιβόητον. πᾶσαι δὲ αἱ πόλεις ἔπεσαν· τῆς γὰρ γῆς μεταποιουμένης καὶ καινῆς γενομένης πῶς οἷόν τε ἦν τὰς ἐν αὐτῇ πόλεις ἑστᾶναι μεμολυσμένας τῇ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν οἰκήσει; καὶ Βαβυλών φησιν ἡ μεγάλη ἐμνήσθη ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦναι αὐτῇ ποτήριον τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ. ἐν τοῖς φθάσασιν εἴρηται καὶ ἄγγελος δεύτερος ἠκολούθησε λέγων ἔπεσεν, ἔπεσε Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη· ἐν δὲ τῷ παρόντι περὶ ἄλλης ἡμῖν λέγων Βαβυλῶνος νοεῖν δίδωσιν οὐκ ἐκείνην, ἑτέραν δέ τινα σημαίνειν αὐτόν. καὶ οἶμαι περὶ τῆς Ῥώμης φησὶ καὶ τῶν τότε καταληψομένων αὐτήν, ὡς προϊὼν ὁ λόγος διδάξει. διό φησιν καὶ Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη ἐμνήσθη ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ. τουτέστι τῶν πάλαι αὐτῆς ἁμαρτιῶν, ὅτε τοὺς ἁγίους ἐδίωκον καὶ ἀνήρουν, μνήμη γέγονεν παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ, τὸ δέ γε ποτήριον τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἤδη ἡρμηνεύεται· οὐ δεῖ οὖν περιττολογεῖν καὶ πᾶσά φησι νῆσος ἔφυγε καὶ ὄρη οὐχ εὑρέθησαν. νῆσοι εἴρηνται μὲν αἱ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐκκλησίαι, ὡς ὁ προφήτης φησίν· ὁ Κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν· ἀγαλλιάσθω ἡ γῆ· εὐφρανθήτωσαν νῆσοι πολλαί. εἴρηνται δὲ νῆσοι, ὡς ἀνακύψασαι καὶ ὑπερσχοῦσαι τῆς πικρᾶς καὶ ἁλμυρᾶς εἰδωλολατρείας. νήσους δὲ ἄν τις καὶ τὰ δαιμόνων ἀκάθαρτα τάγματα νοήσειε καθ' ἕτερον σημαινόμενον, ὡς ἐγκαλινδούμενα τῷ ἁλμυρῷ τούτῳ καὶ εὐμεταρριπίστῳ βίῳ. περὶ δέ γε τῶν ὀρῶν, ὅτι δαίμονάς φησι, καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος δείκνυσι μελωδὸς ψάλλων τὰ ὄρη ὡσεὶ κηρὸς ἐτάκησαν ἀπὸ προσώπου Κυρίου ὅτι ἔρχεται. φροῦδα οὖν καὶ ἀφανῆ γενήσεσθαι τὸ τηνικάδε τὰ τῶν δαιμόνων τάγματα, ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν παραδίδωσιν. ἀλλὰ 183 ποῦ φύγοιεν οἱ τάλανες ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὗ ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς, ὃς ἐμέτρησε τὸν οὐρανὸν σπιθαμῇ καὶ τὴν γῆν δρακί; πλὴν ὅτι τοῖς συμβαίνουσιν οἱ πεπληγμένοι δρασμὸν ἀνωφελῆ καὶ φυγὴν ἐπιτηδεύσουσι. τούτων γεγονότων καὶ χαλάζης ἐπισυρρεούσης ἐξαισίας, δέον τοὺς τότε ἀνθρώπους εἰς λιτὰς τραπῆναι καὶ δεήσεις. ἦ γὰρ ἂν τὰ κατ' αὐτῶν ἐπαύσατο δείγματα οἱ δὲ καὶ προσεβλασφήμησαν τὸν Θεόν, οὗ χάριν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐπιτείνεται τὰ κακά. καὶ ἦλθεν εἷς ἐκ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλων τῶν ἐχόντων τὰς ἑπτὰ φιάλας, καὶ ἐλάλησε μετ' ἐμοῦ λέγων· δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὸ κρῖμα τῆς πόρνης τῆς μεγάλης, τῆς καθημένης ἐπὶ ὑδάτων πολλῶν, μεθ' ἧς ἐπόρνευσαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐμεθύ σθησαν οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν γῆν ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς. καὶ ἀπήνεγκέ με εἰς ἔρημον ἐν πνεύματι. καὶ εἶδον γυναῖκα καθημένην ἐπὶ θηρίον κόκκινον, γέμοντα ὀνόματα βλασφημίας, ἔχον κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα· καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἦν περιβεβλημένη πορφυρὸν καὶ κόκκινον, καὶ κεχρυσωμένη χρυσίῳ καὶ λίθῳ τιμίῳ καὶ μαργαρίταις, ἔχουσα ποτήριον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτῆς χρυσοῦν γέμοντα βδελυγμάτων καὶ τὰ ἀκάθαρτα τῆς πορνείας τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον αὐτῆς ὄνομα γεγραμμένον· μυστήριον, Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πόρνων καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς. πληρώσασα τὰ περὶ τῆς συντελείας τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος ἡ ὀπτασία καὶ τὰ τότε συμβησόμενα, εἰς ἕτερον ἔρχεται, 184 δεῖξαι θέλουσα τῷ εὐαγγελιστῇ τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ῥώμην. καί φησιν εἶπε πρός με δεῦρο, δείξω σοι τὸ κρῖμα τῆς πόρνης τῆς καθημένης ἐπὶ ὑδάτων πολλῶν, κρῖμα λέγων τὴν διαγωγὴν καὶ τὴν πολιτείαν, ἐν ᾗ κέκρικεν εἶναι καὶ οἵᾳ ἐπιτηδεύει. πόρνην δὲ αὐτὴν καλεῖ, ὡς ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πορνεύουσαν καὶ ἀποστατοῦσαν· καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ πορνεία παρὰ τῆς θείας ὠνόμασται γραφῆς κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον τῷ προφήτῃ πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεόν· ἐξωλόθρευσας πάντα τὸν πορνεύοντα ἀπό σου.