Isaiah 47
New English Translation
Babylon Will Fall
47 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,
O virgin[a] daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
O daughter of the Babylonians!
Indeed,[b] you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.
2 Pick up millstones and grind flour.
Remove your veil,
strip off your skirt,
expose your legs,
cross the streams.
3 Let your naked body be exposed.
Your shame will be on display![c]
I will get revenge;
I will not have pity on anyone,”[d]
4 says our Protector—
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name,
the Holy One of Israel.[e]
5 “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place,[f]
O daughter of the Babylonians!
Indeed,[g] you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’
6 I was angry at my people;
I defiled my special possession
and handed them over to you.
You showed them no mercy;[h]
you even placed a very heavy burden on old people.[i]
7 You said,
‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’[j]
You did not think about these things;[k]
you did not consider how it would turn out.[l]
8 So now, listen to this,
O one who lives so lavishly,[m]
who lives securely,
who says to herself,[n]
‘I am unique! No one can compare to me![o]
I will never have to live as a widow;
I will never lose my children.’[p]
9 Both of these will come upon you
suddenly, in one day!
You will lose your children and be widowed.[q]
You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies,[r]
despite[s] your many incantations
and your numerous amulets.[t]
10 You were complacent in your evil deeds;[u]
you thought,[v] ‘No one sees me.’
Your self-professed[w] wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,
when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’[x]
11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away.[y]
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it.[z]
12 Persist[aa] in trusting[ab] your amulets
and your many incantations,
which you have faithfully recited[ac] since your youth!
Maybe you will be successful[ad]—
maybe you will scare away disaster.[ae]
13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice.[af]
Let them take their stand—
the ones who see omens in the sky,
who gaze at the stars,
who make monthly predictions—
let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you![ag]
14 Look, they are like straw,
that the fire burns up;
they cannot rescue themselves
from the heat[ah] of the flames.
There are no coals to warm them,
no firelight to enjoy.[ai]
15 They will disappoint you,[aj]
those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth.[ak]
Each strays off in his own direction,[al]
leaving no one to rescue you.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:1 tn בְּתוּלַה (betulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).
- Isaiah 47:1 tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).
- Isaiah 47:3 tn Heb In this context “shame” is a euphemism referring to their naked bodies.
- Isaiah 47:3 tn Heb “I will not meet a man.” The verb פָּגַע (paga‘) apparently carries the nuance “meet with kindness” here (cf. 64:5, and see BDB 803 s.v. Qal.2).
- Isaiah 47:4 tc The Hebrew text reads, “Our redeemer—the Lord of armies [traditionally, “the Lord of hosts”] is his name, the Holy One of Israel.” The ancient Greek version adds “says” before “our redeemer.” אָמַר (ʾamar) may have accidentally dropped from the text by virtual haplography. Note that the preceding word אָדָם (ʾadam) is graphically similar.sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
- Isaiah 47:5 tn Heb “darkness,” which may indicate a place of hiding where a fugitive would seek shelter and protection.
- Isaiah 47:5 tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).
- Isaiah 47:6 tn Or “compassion.”
- Isaiah 47:6 tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”
- Isaiah 47:7 tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”
- Isaiah 47:7 tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”
- Isaiah 47:7 tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”
- Isaiah 47:8 tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”
- Isaiah 47:8 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
- Isaiah 47:8 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.
- Isaiah 47:8 tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”
- Isaiah 47:9 tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.
- Isaiah 47:9 tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”
- Isaiah 47:9 tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.
- Isaiah 47:9 sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.
- Isaiah 47:10 tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”
- Isaiah 47:10 tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”
- Isaiah 47:10 tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Isaiah 47:10 tn See the note at v. 8.
- Isaiah 47:11 tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.
- Isaiah 47:11 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”
- Isaiah 47:12 tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”
- Isaiah 47:12 tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.
- Isaiah 47:12 tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”
- Isaiah 47:12 tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”
- Isaiah 47:12 tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.
- Isaiah 47:13 tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”
- Isaiah 47:13 tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you—the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months—from those things which are coming upon you.”
- Isaiah 47:14 tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.
- Isaiah 47:14 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lekhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.
- Isaiah 47:15 tn Heb “So they will be to you”; NIV “That is all they can do for you.”
- Isaiah 47:15 tn Heb “that for which you toiled, your traders from your youth.” The omen readers and star gazers are likened to merchants with whom Babylon has had an ongoing economic relationship.
- Isaiah 47:15 tn Heb “each to his own side, they err.”
Isaiah 47
English Standard Version
The Humiliation of Babylon
47 (A)Come down and sit in the dust,
O virgin (B)daughter of Babylon;
(C)sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of (D)the Chaldeans!
(E)For you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones and (F)grind flour,
(G)put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.
4 (H)Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.
5 (I)Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of (J)the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
(K)the mistress of kingdoms.
6 (L)I was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
(M)you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
7 You said, “I shall be (N)mistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
8 Now therefore hear this, (O)you lover of pleasures,
(P)who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
(Q)“I am, and there is no one besides me;
(R)I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”:
9 (S)These two things shall come to you
in a moment, (T)in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
(U)in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.
10 You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
(V)“I am, and there is no one besides me.”
11 But evil shall come upon you,
which you will not know how to charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
for which you will not be able to atone;
(W)and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.
12 (X)Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.
13 You are wearied with your many counsels;
let them stand forth and save you,
(Y)those who divide the heavens,
who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons make known
what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, (Z)they are like stubble;
(AA)the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!
15 Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have done business with you from your youth;
they wander about, each in his own direction;
there is no one to save you.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
