Isaiah 47

The Fall of Babylon

“Go down, sit in the dust,^a

Virgin Daughter^b Babylon;

sit on the ground without a throne,

queen city of the Babylonians.^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 nakednessⁱ will be exposed

and your shame^j uncovered.

I will take vengeance;^k

I will spare no one.^l”

Our Redeemer^m—the Lord Almightyⁿ 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!’^a

But you did not consider these things

or reflect^b on what might happen.^c

“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,

lounging in your security^d

and saying to yourself,

‘I am, and there is none besides me.^e

I will never be a widow^f

or suffer the loss of children.’

Both of these will overtake you

in a moment,^g on a single day:

loss of children^h and widowhood.ⁱ

They will come upon you in full measure,

in spite of your many sorceries^j

and all your potent spells.^k

You have trusted^l in your wickedness

and have said, ‘No one sees me.’^m

Your wisdomⁿ and knowledge mislead^o you

when you say to yourself,

‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

Disaster^p 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^q come upon you.

“Keep on, then, with your magic spells

and with your many sorceries,^r

which you have labored at since childhood.

Perhaps you will succeed,

perhaps you will cause terror.

All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!^s

Let your astrologers^t come forward,

those stargazers who make predictions month by month,

let them save^u you from what is coming upon you.

Surely they are like stubble;^v

the fire^w will burn them up.

They cannot even save themselves

from the power of the flame.^x

Here are no coals to warm anyone;

here is no fire to sit by.

That is all they can do for you—

these you have dealt with

and labored^y with since childhood.

All of them go on in their error;

there is not one that can save^z you.