Isaiah 47:1-49:7

New International Version

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)
²Take millstones^(E) and grind^(F) flour;
    take off your veil.^(G)
Lift up your skirts,^(H) bare your legs,
    and wade through the streams.
³Your nakedness^(I) will be exposed
    and your shame^(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;^(K)
    I will spare no one.^(L)”

⁴Our Redeemer^(M)—the Lord Almighty^(N) is his name^(O)—
is the Holy One^(P) of Israel.

⁵“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)
⁶I 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.
⁷You said, ‘I am forever^(Z)—
    the eternal queen!’^(AA)
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect^(AB) on what might happen.^(AC)

⁸“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.’
⁹Both 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)
¹⁰You 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.’
¹¹Disaster^(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.
¹³All 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.
¹⁴Surely 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.
¹⁵That 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.

Stubborn Israel

48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name of Israel^(BA)
    and come from the line of Judah,^(BB)
you who take oaths^(BC) in the name of the Lord^(BD)
    and invoke^(BE) the God of Israel—
    but not in truth^(BF) or righteousness—
²you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city^(BG)
    and claim to rely^(BH) on the God of Israel—
    the Lord Almighty is his name:^(BI)
³I foretold the former things^(BJ) long ago,
    my mouth announced^(BK) them and I made them known;
    then suddenly^(BL) I acted, and they came to pass.
⁴For I knew how stubborn^(BM) you were;
    your neck muscles^(BN) were iron,
    your forehead^(BO) was bronze.
⁵Therefore I told you these things long ago;
    before they happened I announced^(BP) them to you
so that you could not say,
    ‘My images brought them about;^(BQ)
    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
⁶You have heard these things; look at them all.
    Will you not admit them?

“From now on I will tell you of new things,^(BR)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
⁷They are created^(BS) now, and not long ago;^(BT)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew^(BU) of them.’
⁸You have neither heard nor understood;^(BV)
    from of old your ears^(BW) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous^(BX) you are;
    you were called a rebel^(BY) from birth.
⁹For my own name’s sake^(BZ) I delay my wrath;^(CA)
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.^(CB)
¹⁰See, I have refined^(CC) you, though not as silver;
    I have tested^(CD) you in the furnace^(CE) of affliction.
¹¹For my own sake,^(CF) for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?^(CG)
    I will not yield my glory to another.^(CH)

Israel Freed

¹²“Listen^(CI) to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I have called:^(CJ)
I am he;^(CK)
    I am the first and I am the last.^(CL)
¹³My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,^(CM)
    and my right hand spread out the heavens;^(CN)
when I summon them,
    they all stand up together.^(CO)

¹⁴“Come together,^(CP) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold^(CQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally^(CR)
    will carry out his purpose^(CS) against Babylon;^(CT)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[b]
¹⁵I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called^(CU) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed^(CV) in his mission.

¹⁶“Come near^(CW) me and listen^(CX) to this:

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;^(CY)
at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord^(CZ) has sent^(DA) me,
endowed with his Spirit.^(DB)

¹⁷This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,^(DC) the Holy One^(DD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches^(DE) you what is best for you,
    who directs^(DF) you in the way^(DG) you should go.
¹⁸If only you had paid attention^(DH) to my commands,
    your peace^(DI) would have been like a river,^(DJ)
    your well-being^(DK) like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹Your descendants^(DL) would have been like the sand,^(DM)
    your children like its numberless grains;^(DN)
their name would never be blotted out^(DO)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

²⁰Leave Babylon,
    flee^(DP) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy^(DQ)
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;^(DR)
    say, “The Lord has redeemed^(DS) his servant Jacob.”
²¹They did not thirst^(DT) when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow^(DU) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.^(DV)

²²“There is no peace,”^(DW) says the Lord, “for the wicked.”^(DX)

The Servant of the Lord

49 Listen^(DY) to me, you islands;^(DZ)
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born^(EA) the Lord called^(EB) me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.^(EC)
²He made my mouth^(ED) like a sharpened sword,^(EE)
    in the shadow of his hand^(EF) he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow^(EG)
    and concealed me in his quiver.
³He said to me, “You are my servant,^(EH)
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.^(EI)”
⁴But I said, “I have labored in vain;^(EJ)
    I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,^(EK)
    and my reward^(EL) is with my God.”^(EM)

⁵And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb^(EN) to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel^(EO) to himself,
for I am^[c] honored^(EP) in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength^(EQ)—
⁶he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant^(ER)
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.^(ES)
I will also make you a light^(ET) for the Gentiles,^(EU)
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”^(EV)

⁷This is what the Lord says—
    the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel^(EW)—
to him who was despised^(EX) and abhorred by the nation,
    to the servant of rulers:
“Kings^(EY) will see you and stand up,
    princes will see and bow down,^(EZ)
because of the Lord, who is faithful,^(FA)
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen^(FB) you.”