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47 “Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon.

    Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans.
    For you will no longer be called tender and delicate.
Take the millstones and grind flour.
    Remove your veil, lift up your skirt, uncover your legs,
    and wade through the rivers.
Your nakedness will be uncovered.
    Yes, your shame will be seen.
I will take vengeance,
    and will spare no one.”

Our Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies is his name,
    is the Holy One of Israel.

“Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
    daughter of the Chaldeans.
For you shall no longer be called
    the mistress of kingdoms.
I was angry with my people.
    I profaned my inheritance
    and gave them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy.
    You laid a very heavy yoke on the aged.
You said, ‘I will be a princess forever,’
    so that you didn’t lay these things to your heart,
    nor did you remember the results.

“Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures,
    who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
    ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.
I won’t sit as a widow,
    neither will I know the loss of children.’
But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day,
    the loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in their full measure,
    in the multitude of your sorceries,
    and the great abundance of your enchantments.
10 For you have trusted in your wickedness.
    You have said, ‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and your knowledge has perverted you.
    You have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
11 Therefore disaster will come on you.
    You won’t know when it dawns.
Mischief will fall on you.
    You won’t be able to put it away.
Desolation will come on you suddenly,
    which you don’t understand.

12 “Stand now with your enchantments
    and with the multitude of your sorceries,
    in which you have labored from your youth,
as if you might profit,
    as if you might prevail.
13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels.
    Now let the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and save you from the things that will happen to you.
14 Behold, they are like stubble.
    The fire will burn them.
    They won’t deliver themselves from the power of the flame.
It won’t be a coal to warm at
    or a fire to sit by.
15 The things that you labored in will be like this:
    those who have trafficked with you from your youth will each wander in his own way.
    There will be no one to save you.

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