Isaiah 47
New American Standard Bible 1995
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.
2 “Take the (E)millstones and (F)grind meal.
Remove your (G)veil, (H)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3 “Your (I)nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame also will be exposed;
I will (J)take vengeance and will not [a]spare a man.”
4 Our (K)Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “(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.
6 “I was angry with My people,
I profaned My heritage
And gave them into your hand.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the (P)aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7 “Yet you said, ‘I will be a (Q)queen forever.’
These things you did not (R)consider
Nor remember the (S)outcome of [b]them.
8 “Now, then, hear this, you (T)sensual one,
Who (U)dwells 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.’
9 “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 power of your spells.
10 “You felt (AA)secure in your wickedness and said,
‘(AB)No one sees me,’
Your (AC)wisdom and your knowledge, [d]they have deluded you;
For 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 prophesy 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 “So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Who have (AO)trafficked with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own [e]way;
There is (AP)none to save you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:3 Lit meet
- Isaiah 47:7 Lit it
- Isaiah 47:8 Lit her
- Isaiah 47:10 Lit it has
- Isaiah 47:15 Lit side, region
Isaiah 47
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Fall of Babylon
47 “Go down and sit in the dust,(A)
Virgin Daughter Babylon.(B)
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter Chaldea!
For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.
2 Take millstones and grind meal;(C)
remove your veil,
strip off your skirt, bare your thigh,
wade through the streams.
3 Your nakedness will be uncovered,
and your shame will be exposed.(D)
I will take vengeance;
I will spare no one.[a]
4 The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer;(E)
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
5 “Daughter Chaldea,
sit in silence(F) and go into darkness.
For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with My people;
I profaned My possession,
and I placed them under your control.
You showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.
7 You said, ‘I will be the mistress forever.’
You did not take these things to heart
or think about their outcome.
8 “So now hear this, lover of luxury,
who sits securely,(G)
who says to herself,
‘I exist, and there is no one else.
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’(H)
9 These two things will happen to you
suddenly, in one day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will happen to you in their entirety,
in spite of your many sorceries(I)
and the potency of your spells.
10 You were secure in your wickedness;
you said, ‘No one sees me.’(J)
Your wisdom and knowledge
led you astray.
You said to yourself,
‘I exist, and there is no one else.’
11 But disaster will happen to you;
you will not know how to avert it.
And it will fall on you,
but you will be unable to ward it off.[b]
Devastation will happen to you suddenly
and unexpectedly.(K)
12 So take your stand with your spells
and your many sorceries,
which you have wearied yourself with from your youth.
Perhaps you will be able to succeed;
perhaps you will inspire terror!
13 You are worn out with your many consultations.
So let them stand and save you—
the astrologers,[c] who observe the stars,(L)
who predict monthly
what will happen to you.
14 Look, they are like stubble;(M)
fire burns them up.(N)
They cannot deliver themselves
from the power[d] of the flame.
This is not a coal for warming themselves,
or a fire to sit beside!
15 This is what they are to you—
those who have wearied you
and have traded with you from your youth—
each wanders on his own way;
no one can save you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:3 Hb obscure
- Isaiah 47:11 Or to atone for it
- Isaiah 47:13 Lit dividers of the heavens
- Isaiah 47:14 Lit hand
Isaiah 47
Living Bible
47 “O Babylon, the unconquered, come sit in the dust; for your days of glory, pomp, and honor are ended. O daughter of Chaldea, never again will you be the lovely princess, tender and delicate. 2 Take heavy millstones and grind the corn; remove your veil;[a] strip off your robe; expose yourself to public view. 3 You shall be in nakedness and shame. I will take vengeance upon you and will not repent.”
4 So speaks our Redeemer, who will save Israel from Babylon’s mighty power; the Lord Almighty is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
5 Sit in darkness and silence, O Babylon; never again will you be called “The Queen of Kingdoms.” 6 For I was angry with my people Israel and began to punish them a little by letting them fall into your hands, O Babylon. But you showed them no mercy. You have made even the old folks carry heavy burdens. 7 You thought your reign would never end, Queen Kingdom of the world. You didn’t care a whit about my people or think about the fate of those who do them harm.
8 O pleasure-mad kingdom, living at ease, bragging as the greatest in the world—listen to the sentence of my court upon your sins. You say, “I alone am God! I’ll never be a widow; I’ll never lose my children.” 9 Well, those two things shall come upon you in one moment, in full measure in one day: widowhood and the loss of your children, despite all your witchcraft and magic.
10 You felt secure in all your wickedness. “No one sees me,” you said. Your “wisdom” and “knowledge” have caused you to turn away from me and claim that you yourself are Jehovah. 11 That is why disaster shall overtake you suddenly—so suddenly that you won’t know where it comes from. And there will be no atonement then to cleanse away your sins.
12 Call out the demon hordes you’ve worshiped all these years. Call on them to help you strike deep terror into many hearts again. 13 You have advisors by the ton—your astrologers and stargazers, who try to tell you what the future holds. 14 But they are as useless as dried grass burning in the fire. They cannot even deliver themselves! You’ll get no help from them at all. Theirs is no fire to sit beside to make you warm! 15 And all your friends of childhood days shall slip away and disappear, unable to help.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:2 remove your veil. In ancient Babylonia (and in many Eastern lands today) only harlots were permitted to go without veils.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.