Isaiah 47:8-11
New English Translation
8 So now, listen to this,
O one who lives so lavishly,[a]
who lives securely,
who says to herself,[b]
‘I am unique! No one can compare to me![c]
I will never have to live as a widow;
I will never lose my children.’[d]
9 Both of these will come upon you
suddenly, in one day!
You will lose your children and be widowed.[e]
You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies,[f]
despite[g] your many incantations
and your numerous amulets.[h]
10 You were complacent in your evil deeds;[i]
you thought,[j] ‘No one sees me.’
Your self-professed[k] wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,
when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’[l]
11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away.[m]
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it.[n]
Footnotes
- 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 47:8-11
English Standard Version
8 Now therefore hear this, (A)you lover of pleasures,
(B)who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
(C)“I am, and there is no one besides me;
(D)I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”:
9 (E)These two things shall come to you
in a moment, (F)in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
(G)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,
(H)“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;
(I)and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.
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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.
