巴比伦的覆灭

47 “巴比伦的少女啊,
下来坐在尘土中吧!
迦勒底的姑娘啊,
坐在没有宝座的地上吧!
因为你必不再娇柔细嫩。
你要推磨磨面,
揭下面纱,掀起裙子,
露出大腿,涉水过河。
你必赤身裸体,
露出羞处。
我必报仇,不放过一人。
我们的救赎主是以色列的圣者,
祂名叫万军之耶和华。

“迦勒底的姑娘啊,
要静静地坐着,进入黑暗中,
因为你不再被称为列国之后。
我曾向我的子民发怒,
让我的产业被玷污,
把他们交在你手中。
你对他们毫不留情,
甚至让老人负极重的轭。
你声称要永远做王后,
不把这些事放在心上,
也不思想以后的结局。

“淫逸安舒的人啊,听着!
你以为天地间唯你独尊,
你必不致寡居,
也不会遭丧子之痛。
谁知寡居、丧子二事却忽然在同一天临到你身上。
即使你懂得许多邪术和符咒,
也于事无补。

10 “你肆无忌惮地行恶,
自以为没有人看见。
你被自己的聪明智慧欺骗,
自以为天下无双。
11 你必大祸临头,
不知如何祛灾避祸。
灾祸必落在你身上,
无可挽回。
你意想不到的祸患必突然来到。

12 “你自幼就勤练符咒和五花八门的邪术,继续施展吧!
也许会有用处,
也许会令人害怕。
13 众多的计谋使你疲惫不堪,
让那些观天象、
每月说预言的占星家来救你脱离将临的灾祸吧!

14 “看啊,他们不过像枯草,
必遭焚烧,
无法救自己脱离烈焰。
这火并非取暖的炭火,
也不是人可以靠近的火。
15 你自幼交往的占星家帮不上你,
他们都四散奔逃,无人救你。

The Humiliation of Babylon

47 “Come (A)down and (B)sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of (C)Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and [a]delicate.
(D)Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
(E)Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
(F)I will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man.”

As for (G)our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.

“Sit in (H)silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
(I)For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
(J)I was angry with My people;
(K)I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
(L)On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
And you said, ‘I shall be (M)a lady forever,’
So that you did not (N)take these things to heart,
(O)Nor remember the latter end of them.

“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’;
But these two things shall come to you
(P)In 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 (Q)sees me’;
Your wisdom and your knowledge have [b]warped you;
And you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
11 Therefore evil shall come upon you;
You shall not know from where it arises.
And trouble shall fall upon you;
You will not be able [c]to put it off.
And (R)desolation shall come upon you (S)suddenly,
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.
13 (T)You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
Let now (U)the[d] astrologers, the stargazers,
And [e]the monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall be (V)as stubble,
The fire shall (W)burn 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!
15 Thus shall they be to you
With whom you have labored,
(X)Your merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his [f]quarter.
No one shall save you.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:1 dainty
  2. Isaiah 47:10 led you astray
  3. Isaiah 47:11 Lit. to cover it or atone for it
  4. Isaiah 47:13 Lit. viewers of the heavens
  5. Isaiah 47:13 Lit. those giving knowledge for new moons
  6. Isaiah 47:15 own side or way

47 “Come down, and sit in the dust,
you virgin daughter of Bavel!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
daughter of the Kasdim!
No longer are you to be called
dainty and delicate.
Take the millstones, and grind meal;
take off your veil, strip off your skirt,
uncover your legs, wade through the streams.
Your private parts will be exposed;
yes, your shame will be seen.
I am going to take vengeance,
and no one will stand in my way.”

Our Redeemer! Adonai-Tzva’ot is his name,
the Holy One of Isra’el!

“Sit there speechless, go into darkness,
you daughter of the Kasdim!
For you will no longer be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
I was angry with my people,
I desecrated my own possession
and gave them over to you.
But you showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy,
even upon the aged.
You said, ‘I will be mistress forever.’
so you didn’t consider these things
or think about the consequences.
Now hear this, you lover of luxuries,
lolling at ease and saying to yourself,
‘I am important, and no one else!
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’
But both will come over you in an instant,
in a single day loss of children and widowhood;
they will utterly overwhelm you,
despite your many occult practices
and powerful spells to prevent it.”

10 You were at ease in your wickedness,
you thought, “No one sees me.”
Your “wisdom” and “knowledge” perverted you,
as you thought to yourself,
“I am important, and no one else.”
11 Yet disaster will befall you,
and you won’t know how to charm it away;
calamity will come upon you,
and you won’t be able to turn it aside;
ruin will overcome you,
suddenly, before you know it.
12 So for now, keep on with your powerful spells
and your many occult practices;
from childhood you have been working at them;
maybe they will do you some good,
maybe you will inspire terror!
13 You are worn out with all your consultations —
so let the astrologers and stargazers,
the monthly horoscope-makers,
come forward now and save you
from the things that will come upon you!
14 Look, they will be like straw!
The fire will consume them.
They will not save even themselves
from the power of the flame.
It will not be coals for warming oneself,
not a fire to sit beside!
15 So much for your [wizards],
with whom you have worked all your life!
Each will wander off in his own direction,
and nobody will save you.