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Lament for Babylon

47 (A)Come down and sit in the dust,
O (B)virgin (C)daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no longer be called (D)tender and delicate.
Take the (E)millstones and (F)grind flour.
Uncover your (G)veil, (H)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
Your (I)nakedness will be uncovered;
Your reproach also will be seen;
I will (J)take vengeance and will not [a]spare a man.”
Our (K)Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
(L)Sit silently, and go into (M)darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans,
For you will no longer be called
The (N)queen of (O)kingdoms.
I was furious with My people;
I profaned My inheritance
And gave them into your hand.
You did not show compassion to them,
On the (P)aged you made your yoke very heavy.
Yet you said, ‘I will be a (Q)queen forever.’
These things you did not (R)put on your heart
Nor remember the (S)outcome of [b]them.

“So now, hear this, you (T)sensual one,
Who (U)sits securely,
Who says in [c]your heart,
(V)I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will (W)not sit as a widow,
Nor know loss of children.’
But these (X)two things will come on you (Y)suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many (Z)sorceries,
In spite of the great might of your spells.
10 You felt (AA)secure in your evil and said,
(AB)No one sees me,’
Your (AC)wisdom and your knowledge [d]have turned you astray;
So you have said in your heart,
(AD)I am, and there is no one besides me.’
11 But (AE)evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And (AF)destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you (AG)suddenly.

12 “Stand fast now in your (AH)spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to profit;
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
13 You are (AI)wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the (AJ)astrologers,
Those who behold visions by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and (AK)save you from what will come upon you.
14 Behold, they have become (AL)like stubble,
(AM)Fire burns them;
They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be (AN)no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
15 Thus they have become for you, those among whom you have labored,
Who have (AO)traded with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own [e]way;
There is (AP)none to save you.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:3 Lit meet
  2. Isaiah 47:7 Lit it
  3. Isaiah 47:8 Lit her
  4. Isaiah 47:10 Lit it has
  5. Isaiah 47:15 Lit side, region

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