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10 You felt secure in your wickedness
    as you thought, “No one can see me.”
But your wisdom and your knowledge
    led you astray,
and you said to yourself,
    “I am the only one who matters.”
11 As a result, evil will come upon you,
    and you will not know how to conjure it away,
disaster will befall you
    that you will not be able to avert;
complete ruin which you did not foresee
    will suddenly afflict you.
12 [a]But continue to persist in your spells
    and your many sorceries
in which you have placed your confidence
    throughout your life.
Perhaps you can succeed with them;
    perhaps you can inspire terror.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:12 Babylon was famous for its astronomers and astrologers.

10 You have trusted(A) in your wickedness
    and have said, ‘No one sees me.’(B)
Your wisdom(C) and knowledge mislead(D) you
    when you say to yourself,
    ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster(E) 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(F) come upon you.

12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
    and with your many sorceries,(G)
    which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
    perhaps you will cause terror.

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