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Isaiah 47
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Isaiah 47
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Humiliation of Babylon
47 Come down and sit in the dust,
virgin daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground without a throne,
daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.(A)
2 Take the millstones and grind meal;
remove your veil;
strip off your robe; uncover your legs;
pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your shame shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.[a](B)
4 Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.(C)
5 Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
the mistress of kingdoms.(D)
6 I was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke
exceedingly heavy.(E)
7 You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.(F)
8 Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”—(G)
9 both these things shall come upon you
in a moment, in one day:
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.(H)
10 You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge
led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”(I)
11 But evil shall come upon you,
which you cannot charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
which you will not be able to ward off,
and ruin shall come on you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.(J)
12 Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.(K)
13 You are wearied with your many consultations;
let those who study[b] the heavens
stand up and save you,
those who gaze at the stars
and at each new moon predict
what[c] shall befall you.(L)
14 See, they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!(M)
15 Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have trafficked with you from your youth;
they all wander about in their own paths;
there is no one to save you.(N)
Isaiah 47
New International Version
Isaiah 47
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)
2 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.
3 Your nakedness(I) will be exposed
and your shame(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;(K)
I will spare no one.(L)”
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)
6 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.
7 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)
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.’
9 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
- Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.