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
Lexham English Bible
8 Therefore now hear this, luxuriant one who sits[a] in security,
who says[b] in her heart, “I am, and besides me there is no one.
I shall not sit as a widow,
and I shall not know the loss of children.”
9 And these two shall come to you in a moment, in one day:
the loss of children and widowhood shall come on you completely,[c]
in spite of your many sorceries,
in spite of the power of your great enchantments.
10 And you felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one[d] sees[e] me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart, “I am, and besides me there is no one.”
11 And evil shall come upon you, you will not know;
it will be on the lookout for her.
And disaster shall fall upon you; you will not be able to avert[f] it.
And ruin shall come on you suddenly; you do not know.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:8 Or “sitting”
- Isaiah 47:8 Or “saying”
- Isaiah 47:9 Literally “as their fullness”
- Isaiah 47:10 Literally “none”
- Isaiah 47:10 Or “is seeing”
- Isaiah 47:11 Literally “make amends”
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