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Isaiah 47
New English Translation
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
Contemporary English Version
Isaiah 47
Contemporary English Version
Babylon Will Fall
The Lord said:
47 (A) City of Babylon,
You are delicate
and untouched,
but that will change.
Surrender your royal power
and sit in the dirt.
2 Start grinding grain!
Take off your veil.
Strip off your fancy clothes
and wade across rivers.[a]
3 You will suffer the shame
of going naked,
because I will take revenge,
and no one can escape.[b]
4 I am the Lord All-Powerful,
the holy God of Israel.
I am their Savior.
5 Babylon, be silent!
Sit in the dark.
No longer will nations
accept you as their queen.
6 I was angry with my people.
So I let you take their land
and bring disgrace on them.
You showed them no mercy,
but were especially cruel
to those who were old.
7 You thought that you
would be queen forever.
You didn't care what you did;
it never entered your mind
that you might get caught.
8 (B) You think that you alone
are all-powerful,
that you won't be a widow
or lose your children.
All you care about is pleasure,
but listen to what I say.
9 Your magic powers and charms
will suddenly fail,
then you will be a widow
and lose your children.
10 You hid behind evil
like a shield and said,
“No one can see me!”
You were fooled by your wisdom
and your knowledge;
you felt sure that you alone
were in full control.
11 But without warning,
disaster will strike—
and your magic charms
won't help at all.
12 Keep using your magic powers
and your charms
as you have always done.
Maybe—just maybe—
you will frighten somebody!
13 You have worn yourself out,
asking for advice
from those who study the stars
and tell the future
month after month.
Go ask them how to be saved
from what will happen.
14 People who trust the stars
are as helpless as straw
in a flaming fire.
No one can even keep warm,[c]
sitting by a fire
that feeds only on straw.
15 These are the fortunetellers
you have done business with
all of your life.
But they don't know
where they are going,
and they can't save you.
Isaiah 47
New King James Version
Isaiah 47
New King James Version
The Humiliation of Babylon
47 “Come (A)down and (B)sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of (C)Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and [a]delicate.
2 (D)Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
3 (E)Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
(F)I will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man.”
4 As for (G)our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “Sit in (H)silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
(I)For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
6 (J)I was angry with My people;
(K)I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
(L)On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
7 And you said, ‘I shall be (M)a lady forever,’
So that you did not (N)take these things to heart,
(O)Nor remember the latter end of them.
8 “Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,
Who dwell securely,
Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow,
Nor shall I know the loss of children’;
9 But these two things shall come to you
(P)In a moment, in one day:
The loss of children, and widowhood.
They shall come upon you in their fullness
Because of the multitude of your sorceries,
For the great abundance of your enchantments.
10 “For you have trusted in your wickedness;
You have said, ‘No one (Q)sees me’;
Your wisdom and your knowledge have [b]warped you;
And you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
11 Therefore evil shall come upon you;
You shall not know from where it arises.
And trouble shall fall upon you;
You will not be able [c]to put it off.
And (R)desolation shall come upon you (S)suddenly,
Which you shall not know.
12 “Stand now with your enchantments
And the multitude of your sorceries,
In which you have labored from your youth—
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you will prevail.
13 (T)You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
Let now (U)the[d] astrologers, the stargazers,
And [e]the monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall be (V)as stubble,
The fire shall (W)burn them;
They shall not deliver themselves
From the power of the flame;
It shall not be a coal to be warmed by,
Nor a fire to sit before!
15 Thus shall they be to you
With whom you have labored,
(X)Your merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his [f]quarter.
No one shall save you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:1 dainty
- Isaiah 47:10 led you astray
- Isaiah 47:11 Lit. to cover it or atone for it
- Isaiah 47:13 Lit. viewers of the heavens
- Isaiah 47:13 Lit. those giving knowledge for new moons
- Isaiah 47:15 own side or way
Isaiah 47
New International Version
Isaiah 47
New International Version
The Fall of Babylon
47 “Go down, sit in the dust,(A)
Virgin Daughter(B) Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
queen city of the Babylonians.[a](C)
No more will you be called
tender or delicate.(D)
2 Take millstones(E) and grind(F) flour;
take off your veil.(G)
Lift up your skirts,(H) bare your legs,
and wade through the streams.
3 Your nakedness(I) will be exposed
and your shame(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;(K)
I will spare no one.(L)”
5 “Sit in silence,(Q) go into darkness,(R)
queen city of the Babylonians;(S)
no more will you be called
queen(T) of kingdoms.(U)
6 I was angry(V) with my people
and desecrated my inheritance;(W)
I gave them into your hand,(X)
and you showed them no mercy.(Y)
Even on the aged
you laid a very heavy yoke.
7 You said, ‘I am forever(Z)—
the eternal queen!’(AA)
But you did not consider these things
or reflect(AB) on what might happen.(AC)
8 “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
lounging in your security(AD)
and saying to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.(AE)
I will never be a widow(AF)
or suffer the loss of children.’
9 Both of these will overtake you
in a moment,(AG) on a single day:
loss of children(AH) and widowhood.(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries(AJ)
and all your potent spells.(AK)
10 You have trusted(AL) in your wickedness
and have said, ‘No one sees me.’(AM)
Your wisdom(AN) and knowledge mislead(AO) you
when you say to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster(AP) will come upon you,
and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
will suddenly(AQ) come upon you.
12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
and with your many sorceries,(AR)
which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!(AS)
Let your astrologers(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
let them save(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
14 Surely they are like stubble;(AV)
the fire(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
from the power of the flame.(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
this is not a fire to sit by.
15 That is all they are to you—
these you have dealt with
and labored(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
there is not one that can save(AZ) you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5
New English Translation (NET)
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Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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