Isaiah 47

The Humiliation of Babylon

47“Come ^adown and ^bsit in the dust,

O virgin daughter of ^cBabylon;

Sit on the ground without a throne,

O daughter of the Chaldeans!

For you shall no more be called

Tender and ¹delicate.

^2dTake the millstones and grind meal.

Remove your veil,

Take off the skirt,

Uncover the thigh,

Pass through the rivers.

^3eYour nakedness shall be uncovered,

Yes, your shame will be seen;

^fI will take vengeance,

And I will not arbitrate with a man.”

⁴As for ^gour Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,

The Holy One of Israel.

⁵“Sit in ^hsilence, and go into darkness,

O daughter of the Chaldeans;

ⁱFor you shall no longer be called

The Lady of Kingdoms.

^6jI was angry with My people;

^kI have profaned My inheritance,

And given them into your hand.

You showed them no mercy;

^lOn the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.

⁷And you said, ‘I shall be ^ma lady forever,’

So that you did not ⁿtake these things to heart,

^oNor remember the latter end of them.

⁸“Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,

Who dwell securely,

Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me;

I shall not sit as a widow,

Nor shall I know the loss of children’;

⁹But these two things shall come to you

^pIn a moment, in one day:

The loss of children, and widowhood.

They shall come upon you in their fullness

Because of the multitude of your sorceries,

For the great abundance of your enchantments.

¹⁰“For you have trusted in your wickedness;

You have said, ‘No one ^qsees me’;

Your wisdom and your knowledge have ²warped you;

And you have said in your heart,

‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’

¹¹Therefore evil shall come upon you;

You shall not know from where it arises.

And trouble shall fall upon you;

You will not be able ³to put it off.

And ^rdesolation shall come upon you ^ssuddenly,

Which you shall not know.

¹²“Stand now with your enchantments

And the multitude of your sorceries,

In which you have labored from your youth—

Perhaps you will be able to profit,

Perhaps you will prevail.

^13tYou are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;

Let now ^uthe ⁴astrologers, the stargazers,

And ⁵the monthly prognosticators

Stand up and save you

From what shall come upon you.

¹⁴Behold, they shall be ^vas stubble,

The fire shall ^wburn them;

They shall not deliver themselves

From the power of the flame;

It shall not be a coal to be warmed by,

Nor a fire to sit before!

¹⁵Thus shall they be to you

With whom you have labored,

^xYour merchants from your youth;

They shall wander each one to his ⁶quarter.

No one shall save you.