The fall of Babylon

47 ‘Go down, sit in the dust,
    Virgin Daughter Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
    queen city of the Babylonians.[a]
No more will you be called
    tender or delicate.
Take millstones and grind flour;
    take off your veil.
Lift up your skirts, bare your legs,
    and wade through the streams.
Your nakedness will be exposed
    and your shame uncovered.
I will take vengeance;
    I will spare no one.’

Our Redeemer – the Lord Almighty is his name –
    is the Holy One of Israel.

‘Sit in silence, go into darkness,
    queen city of the Babylonians;
no more will you be called
    queen of kingdoms.
I was angry with my people
    and desecrated my inheritance;
I gave them into your hand,
    and you showed them no mercy.
Even on the aged
    you laid a very heavy yoke.
You said, “I am for ever –
    the eternal queen!”
But you did not consider these things
    or reflect on what might happen.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5