Isaiah 47

THE FALL OF BABYLON

47“Go down and sit in the dust,^a

Virgin Daughter Babylon.^b

Sit on the ground without a throne,

Daughter Chaldea!

For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.

²Take millstones and grind flour;^c

remove your veil,

strip off your skirt, bare your thigh,

wade through the streams.

³Your nakedness will be uncovered,

and your disgrace will be exposed.^d

I will take vengeance;

I will spare no one.”^A

⁴The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer;^e

The Lord of Armies is his name.

⁵“Daughter Chaldea,

sit in silence^f and go into darkness.

For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.

⁶I was angry with my people;

I profaned my possession,

and I handed them over to you.

You showed them no mercy;

you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.

⁷You said, ‘I will be the queen forever.’

You did not take these things to heart

or think about their outcome.

⁸“So now hear this, lover of luxury,

who sits securely,^g

who says to herself,

‘I am, and there is no one else.

I will never be a widow

or know the loss of children.’^h

⁹These two things will happen to you

suddenly, in one day:

loss of children and widowhood.

They will happen to you in their entirety,

in spite of your many sorceriesⁱ

and the potency of your spells.

¹⁰You were secure in your wickedness;

you said, ‘No one sees me.’^j

Your wisdom and knowledge

led you astray.

You said to yourself,

‘I am, and there is no one else.’

¹¹But disaster will happen to you;

you will not know how to avert it.

And it will fall on you,

but you will be unable to ward it off.^A

Devastation will happen to you suddenly

and unexpectedly.^k

¹²So take your stand with your spells

and your many sorceries,

which you have wearied yourself with from your youth.

Perhaps you will be able to succeed;

perhaps you will inspire terror!

¹³You are worn out with your many consultations.

So let the astrologers stand and save you—

those who observe the stars,^l

those who predict monthly

what will happen to you.

¹⁴Look, they are like stubble;^m

fire burns them.ⁿ

They cannot rescue themselves

from the power of the flame.

This is not a coal for warming themselves,

or a fire to sit beside!

¹⁵This is what they are to you—

those who have wearied you

and have traded with you from your youth—

each wanders on his own way;

no one can save you.