“And he cryed mightily with a strōg voyce, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of deuils, and the hold of euery foule spirit, and a cage of euery vncleane and hatefull bird:”
1611 King James Version (KJV)
18:2 And he cried, Babylon is fallen - This fall was mentioned before, #Rev 14:8|; but is now declared at large. And is become an habitation - A free abode. Of devils, and an hold - A prison. Of every unclean spirit - Perhaps confined there where they had once practised all uncleanness, till the judgment of the great day. How many horrid inhabitants hath desolate Babylon! of invisible beings, devils, and unclean spirits; of visible, every unclean beast, every filthy and hateful bird. Suppose, then, Babylon to mean heathen Rome; what have the Romanists gained, seeing from the time of that destruction, which they say is past, these are to be its only inhabitants for ever.
Re 18:2 And he cried . . . Babylon the great is fallen. Compare this description with Isa 21:9 14:23 13:21. The fall of Babylon has been already declared, Re 16:19 17:16 but now it is developed. This picture is intended to portray her utter desolation.