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47 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man. Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called The mistress of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be mistress for ever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end thereof.

Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that [a]sittest securely, that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments. 10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee, and thou hast said in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. 11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know [b]the dawning thereof: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou knowest not.

12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest [c]prevail. 13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the [d]astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before. 15 Thus shall the things be unto thee wherein thou hast labored: they that have trafficked with thee from thy youth shall wander every one to [e]his quarter; there shall be none to save thee.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:8 Or, dwellest
  2. Isaiah 47:11 Or, how to charm it away
  3. Isaiah 47:12 Or, strike terror
  4. Isaiah 47:13 Hebrew dividers of the heavens.
  5. Isaiah 47:15 Or, his own way

The Fall of Babylon

47 “Go down, sit in the dust,(A)
    Virgin Daughter(B) Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
    queen city of the Babylonians.[a](C)
No more will you be called
    tender or delicate.(D)
Take millstones(E) and grind(F) flour;
    take off your veil.(G)
Lift up your skirts,(H) bare your legs,
    and wade through the streams.
Your nakedness(I) will be exposed
    and your shame(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;(K)
    I will spare no one.(L)

Our Redeemer(M)—the Lord Almighty(N) is his name(O)
    is the Holy One(P) of Israel.

“Sit in silence,(Q) go into darkness,(R)
    queen city of the Babylonians;(S)
no more will you be called
    queen(T) of kingdoms.(U)
I was angry(V) with my people
    and desecrated my inheritance;(W)
I gave them into your hand,(X)
    and you showed them no mercy.(Y)
Even on the aged
    you laid a very heavy yoke.
You said, ‘I am forever(Z)
    the eternal queen!’(AA)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect(AB) on what might happen.(AC)

“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
    lounging in your security(AD)
and saying to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.(AE)
I will never be a widow(AF)
    or suffer the loss of children.’
Both of these will overtake you
    in a moment,(AG) on a single day:
    loss of children(AH) and widowhood.(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
    in spite of your many sorceries(AJ)
    and all your potent spells.(AK)
10 You have trusted(AL) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’(AM)
Your wisdom(AN) and knowledge mislead(AO) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster(AP) will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
    that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly(AQ) come upon you.

12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,(AR)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!(AS)
    Let your astrologers(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
    let them save(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
14 Surely they are like stubble;(AV)
    the fire(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
    from the power of the flame.(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
    this is not a fire to sit by.
15 That is all they are to you—
    these you have dealt with
    and labored(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
    there is not one that can save(AZ) you.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5