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Babylon’s Fall

47 Come down and sit on the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon!
    Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of Chaldea!
For they shall no longer call[a] you tender and delicate.
    Take the pair of mill stones and grind flour!
Uncover your veil,
    strip off your skirt,
uncover your thigh,
    pass through the rivers!
Your nakedness shall be exposed;
    indeed, your shame shall become visible.
I will take vengeance
    and I will not spare[b] a person.

Our redeemer, Yahweh of hosts is his name, the holy one of Israel.

Sit silently and go into the darkness, daughter of Chaldea,
    for they shall no longer call[c] you mistress of kingdoms.
I was angry with my people;
    I profaned my inheritance,
and I gave them into your hand.
    You did not give[d] them mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke very heavy.
    And you said, “I shall be an eternal mistress forever!”
You did not set these things upon your heart;
    you did not remember its end.
Therefore now hear this, luxuriant one who sits[e] in security,
    who says[f] in her heart, “I am, and besides me there is no one.
I shall not sit as a widow,
    and I shall not know the loss of children.”
And these two shall come to you in a moment, in one day:
    the loss of children and widowhood shall come on you completely,[g]
in spite of your many sorceries,
    in spite of the power of your great enchantments.
10 And you felt secure in your wickedness;
    you said, “No one[h] sees[i] me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
    and you said in your heart, “I am, and besides me there is no one.”
11 And evil shall come upon you, you will not know;
    it will be on the lookout for her.
And disaster shall fall upon you; you will not be able to avert[j] it.
    And ruin shall come on you suddenly; you do not know.
12 Stand, now, in your enchantments,
    and in your many sorceries with which you have labored from your youth.
Perhaps you may be able to benefit;
    perhaps you may scare away.[k]
13 You struggle with your many consultations;[l]
    let them stand, now, and save you—
those who see the stars, divide the celestial sphere,[m]
    who inform by new moons—
        from those things that are coming upon you.
14 Look! They are like stubble;
    the fire burns them completely.
        They cannot deliver themselves[n] from the power[o] of the flame;
there is no coal for warming oneself,[p]
    no fire before which to sit.
15 So are to you those with whom you have labored,
    your traders from your youth.
They wander, each to his side;
    there is no one who can save you.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:1 Literally “you shall not add they shall call to”
  2. Isaiah 47:3 Literally “plead with”
  3. Isaiah 47:5 Literally “you shall not add they shall call to”
  4. Isaiah 47:6 Literally “set up”
  5. Isaiah 47:8 Or “sitting”
  6. Isaiah 47:8 Or “saying”
  7. Isaiah 47:9 Literally “as their fullness”
  8. Isaiah 47:10 Literally “none”
  9. Isaiah 47:10 Or “is seeing”
  10. Isaiah 47:11 Literally “make amends”
  11. Isaiah 47:12 Literally “terrify”
  12. Isaiah 47:13 Or “advice”
  13. Isaiah 47:13 Literally “heavens,” that is, for astrology
  14. Isaiah 47:14 Literally “their lives”
  15. Isaiah 47:14 Literally “hand”
  16. Isaiah 47:14 Literally “to grow warm”

47 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man. Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called The mistress of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be mistress for ever; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end thereof.

Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that [a]sittest securely, that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments. 10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee, and thou hast said in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. 11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know [b]the dawning thereof: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou knowest not.

12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest [c]prevail. 13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the [d]astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before. 15 Thus shall the things be unto thee wherein thou hast labored: they that have trafficked with thee from thy youth shall wander every one to [e]his quarter; there shall be none to save thee.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:8 Or, dwellest
  2. Isaiah 47:11 Or, how to charm it away
  3. Isaiah 47:12 Or, strike terror
  4. Isaiah 47:13 Hebrew dividers of the heavens.
  5. Isaiah 47:15 Or, his own way