Old/New Testament
47 Thou virgin, the daughter of Babylon, go down, sit thou in (the) dust, sit thou in [the] earth; a king’s seat is not to the daughter of [the] Chaldees, for thou shalt no more be called soft and tender. (Thou virgin daughter of Babylon, go down from off thy throne, and sit thou in the dust, yea, upon the ground; a king’s throne is not for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called soft and tender.)
2 Take thou a quern-stone, and grind thou meal; make thou naked thy filth(hood), discover the shoulder, show the hips, pass thou [over the] floods. (Take thou a millstone, and grind thou some meal with it; make thou thyself naked, yea, uncover the shoulder, show the hips, and cross thou over the rivers.)
3 Thy shame shall be showed, and thy shame shall be seen; I shall take vengeance, and no man shall against-stand me.
4 Our again-buyer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy of Israel. (Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.)
5 Daughter of Chaldees, sit thou, be thou still, and enter into darknesses, for thou shalt no more be called the lady of realms. (Daughter of the Chaldeans, sit thou, be thou silent, and enter into the darkness, or into the shadows, for thou shalt no more be called the lady, or the queen, of many kingdoms.)
6 I was wroth on my people, I defouled mine heritage, and I gave them in thine hand, and thou settedest not mercies to them; thou madest grievous the yoke greatly on an eld man, (I was angry with my people, I defiled my inheritance, and I gave them into thy hands, or into thy power, and thou gavest no mercy to them; thou madest the yoke greatly grievous upon an old man,)
7 and thou saidest, Without end I shall be [a] lady (and thou saidest, I shall be a lady forever); thou puttedest not these things on thine heart, neither thou bethoughtest on thy last thing.
8 And now, thou delicate, and dwelling trustily, hear these things, which sayest in thine heart, I am, and besides me there is no more; I shall not sit [a] widow, and I shall not know barrenness. (And now, O delicate one, and trustily dwelling, hear ye these things, thou who sayest in thy heart, Here I am, and there is no other besides me; I shall never be a widow, and I shall never know barrenness.)
9 These two things, barrenness and widowhood, shall come to thee suddenly in one day; all things came on thee for the multitude of thy witchcrafts, and for the great hardness of thine enchanters, either tregetours. (But these two things, barrenness and widowhood, shall suddenly come upon thee in a single day; they shall come upon thee for the multitude of thy witchcrafts, and for the great willfulness of thy enchanters, or of thy conjurers.)
10 And (for) thou haddest trust in thy malice, and saidest, None is that seeth me; this, thy wisdom and thy knowing, (hath) deceived thee; and thou saidest in thine heart, I am, and besides me there is none other (I am, and there is no one else besides me).
11 Evil shall come [up]on thee, and thou shalt not know the beginning thereof; and mischief shall fall [up]on thee, which thou shalt not be able to cleanse; wretchedness which thou knowest not, shall come [up]on thee suddenly (and such wretchedness, which thou knowest not, shall suddenly come upon thee).
12 Stand thou with thine enchanters, and with the multitude of thy witches, in which thou travailedest from thy youth; if in hap they profit anything to thee, either if thou mayest be made the stronger. (Stand thou with thy enchanters, and with the multitude of thy witches, with whom thou hast laboured from thy youth; if perhaps they profit anything to thee, or if thou mayest be made stronger, or more awesome.)
13 Thou failedest in the multitude of thy counsels; the false diviners of heaven stand, and save thee, which beheld stars, and numbered months, that they should tell by them things to coming to thee. (Thou hast failed, despite the multitude of thy advice; let the false diviners of the heavens stand up, and save thee, they who looked at the stars, and numbered the months, so that they could tell by them the things that would come to thee.)
14 Lo! they be made as stubble, the fire hath burnt them; they shall not deliver their life from the power of flame; coals be not, by which they shall be warmed, neither fire, that they sit at it. (Lo! they shall be made like stubble, and the fire shall burn them up; they shall not be able to save, or to rescue, their own lives from the power of the flame; there shall not be coals by which they shall be warmed, nor a fire, that they can sit before.)
15 So those things be made to thee in which ever thou travailedest; thy merchants from thy youth erred, each man in his way; none is, that shall save thee. (So shall these enchanters be to thee, they with whom thou hast laboured all thy life; they have wandered off, each in his own way, and there is no one, who can save thee.)
48 The house of Jacob, that be called by the name of Israel, and went out of the waters of Judah, hear these things, which swear in the name of the Lord, and have mind on God of Israel, not in truth, neither in rightfulness. (Hear ye these things, the house of Jacob, who be called by the name of Israel, and who went out of the seed, or the descendants, of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord, and who remember the God of Israel, but not in truth, or in righteousness.)
2 For they be called of the holy city (For they call themselves citizens of the holy city), and be stablished on the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts is his name.
3 From that time I told (of) the former things, and those went out of my mouth; and I made them known; (then) suddenly I wrought (them), and those things came (to be).
4 For I knew that thou art hard, and thy noll is (like) a sinew of iron, and thy forehead is (like) of brass.
5 I before-said to thee from that time; before that those things came, I showed (them) to thee; lest peradventure thou wouldest say, Mine idols did these things, and my graven images, and my molten images, sent these things, (I told thee before the time; before that those things came, I showed them to thee; lest thou wouldest say, My idols did these things, yea, my carved idols, and my cast idols, have commanded these things to be.)
6 which thou heardest. See thou all things, but ye told not. I made heard new things to thee from that time, and things be kept which thou knowest not; (Thou hast heard, and seen, all these things, but ye have not told them out. I made known to thee new things from that time, and hidden things which thou knewest not before;)
7 now those be made of nought, and not from that time, and before the day, and thou heardest not (of) those things; lest peradventure thou say, Lo! I knew those things. (and those things be made out of nothing, and were not from that time, yea, before today thou heardest not of those things; lest thou now say, Lo! I knew all these things.)
8 Neither thou heardest, neither thou knewest, neither thine ear was opened from that time; for I know, that thou trespassing shalt trespass, and I called thee a trespasser from the womb.
9 For my name I shall make far my strong vengeance, and with my praising I shall refrain (for) thee, lest thou perish. (For the sake of my name I shall make my strong vengeance to go far away, and for the sake of my praises I shall refrain from hurting thee, lest thou perish.)
10 Lo! I have sodden thee, but not as silver; I chose thee in the chimney of poverty. (Lo! I have tested thee, but not like silver; I chose thee in the furnace of affliction.)
11 I shall do for me, that I be not blasphemed (I shall do it for my own sake, so that I be not blasphemed), and I shall not give my glory to another.
12 Jacob and Israel (Jacob, yea, Israel), whom I call(ed), hear thou me; I myself, I am the first, and I am the last.
13 And mine hand founded the earth, and my right hand meted (the) heavens; I shall call them, and they shall stand (up) together (and when I call them, they stand up at once).
14 All ye be gathered together, and hear; who of them told [out] these things? The Lord loved him, he shall do his will in Babylon, and his arm in Chaldees (and his arm, or his power, shall be upon the Chaldeans).
15 I, I spake, and called him; I brought him, and his way was (ad)dressed. (I, I spoke, and called him; I brought him, and his way shall prosper.)
16 Nigh ye to me, and hear ye these things; at the beginning I spake not in huddles, either private (Come ye to me, and hear ye these things; from the beginning, I did not speak in secret, or in private); from (the) time, before that (these) things were made, I was there, and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, (have) sent me.
17 The Lord, thine again-buyer, the Holy of Israel, saith these things, I am thy Lord God, teaching thee profitable things, and I govern thee in the way, wherein thou goest. (The Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, saith these things, I am the Lord thy God, teaching thee profitable things, and I govern thee on the way, on which thou goest.)
18 I would that thou haddest perceived my commandments, thy peace had been made as [a] flood, and thy rightfulness as the swells of the sea; (O that thou haddest followed my commandments! then thy peace would have flowed like a river, and thy righteousness like the swells of the sea;)
19 and thy seed had been as gravel, and the generation of thy womb, as the little stones thereof; the name of it had not perished, and had not been all-broken from my face. (and thy children would have been like the sand, and the descendants from thy womb, like its grains in number; their name would not have perished, and would not have been all-broken, or blotted out, from my sight.)
20 Go ye out of Babylon, flee ye from Chaldees; tell ye in the voice of full out joying; make ye this heard, and bear ye it unto the last parts of [the] earth; say ye, The Lord again-bought his servant Jacob. (Go ye out of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans; tell ye in the voice of rejoicing; make ye this heard, and carry ye it unto the ends of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed, or hath rescued, his servant Jacob.)
21 They thirsted not in the desert, when he led them out; he brought forth to them water of a stone, and he parted the stone, and waters flowed. (They did not thirst in the desert, when he led them out; he brought forth water out of a stone for them, yea, he parted the stone, and the waters flowed out.)
22 Peace is not to wicked men, saith the Lord. (There is no peace, or rest, for the wicked, saith the Lord.)
49 Isles, hear ye, and peoples afar, perceive ye; the Lord called me from the womb, he thought on my name from the womb of my mother. (Islands, hear ye, and peoples afar off, understand ye; the Lord called me from the womb, he thought about me from my mother’s womb.)
2 And he hath set my mouth as a sharp sword, he defended me in the shadow of his hand, and setted me as a chosen arrow; he hid me in his arrow case, (And he made my tongue/my words like a sharp sword, he hid me under the shadow of his hand, and he made me like a chosen arrow; yea, he hid me in his quiver,)
3 and said to me, Israel, thou art my servant, for I shall have glory in thee. (and said to me, Israel, thou art my servant, through whom I shall be glorified.)
4 And I said, I travailed in vain, I wasted my strength without cause, and vainly; therefore my doom is with the Lord, and my work is with my God. (And I said, I have laboured in vain, I have wasted my strength for nothing, and in vain; and yet my judgement, or my justice, is still with the Lord, and my reward is with my God.)
5 And now the Lord, forming me a servant to himself from the womb, saith these things, that I bring again Jacob to him. And Israel shall not be gathered together; and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength. (And now the Lord, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, saith these things, so that I bring back Jacob to him, and that Israel be gathered to him; I am honoured before the Lord, and my God is made my strength.)
6 And he said, It is little, that thou be a servant to me, to raise the lineages of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel; I gave thee into the light of heathen men, that thou be mine health till to the last part of [the] earth. (And he said, It is too little a thing, that thou be my servant only to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the descendants of Israel; I shall make you also to be a light unto the heathen, so that thou can be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.)
7 The Lord, [the] again-buyer of Israel, the Holy thereof, saith these things to a despisable soul, and to a folk had in abomination, to the servant of lords, Kings shall see, and princes shall rise together, and shall worship, for the Lord, for he is faithful, and for the Holy of Israel, that chose thee. (The Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, its Holy One, saith these things to a despised soul, to a nation had in abomination, to the servant of lords, Kings and princes shall see thee, and shall rise up, and shall honour thee, because of the Lord, for he is faithful, yea, because of the Holy One of Israel, who chose thee.)
8 The Lord saith these things, In a pleasant time I heard thee, and in the day of health I helped thee; and I kept thee, and gave thee into a bond of peace of the people, that thou shouldest raise (tillage upon) the earth, and have in possession heritages, that be destroyed; (The Lord saith these things, At the time of my favour I heard thee, and in the day of deliverance I helped thee; and I kept thee safe, and gave thee for a covenant to the people, so that thou couldest raise tillage upon the earth, and have in possession the land that is now laid waste;)
9 that thou shouldest say to them that be bound, Go ye out, and to them that be in darknesses, Be ye showed. They shall be fed in ways, and the pastures of them shall be in all plain things. (and that thou shouldest say to them who be bound, Go ye out, and to them who be in darkness, Be ye seen. They shall be fed on the ways, and their pastures shall be on all the hills.)
10 They shall not hunger, and they shall no more thirst; and heat, and the sun shall not smite them (and heat, and the sun shall not strike them); for the merciful doer of them shall govern them, and shall give drink to them at the wells of waters.
11 And I shall set all mine hills into [a] way, and my paths shall be enhanced. (And I shall make a way through all my hills, and my paths shall be raised up high.)
12 Lo! these men shall come from [a]far, and lo! they shall come from the north, and from the sea, and these from the south land. (Lo! these men shall come from afar, and lo! they shall come from the north, and from the west, and from the land of Sinim/and from the land of Syene, that is, from Aswan in the south.)
13 Heavens, praise ye, and thou earth, make full out joy; hills, sing ye heartily praising (hills, heartily sing ye praises); for the Lord [hath] comforted his people, and shall have mercy on his poor men.
14 And Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me.
15 Whether a woman may forget her young child, that she have not mercy on the son of her womb? (yea,) though she (may) forget, nevertheless I shall not forget thee.
16 Lo! I have written thee in mine hands; thy walls, be ever before mine eyes. (Lo! I have written thee upon my hands; thy walls, Jerusalem, be ever before my eyes.)
17 The builders be come; (and) they that destroy thee, and scatter (thee), shall (now) go (far) away from thee.
18 Raise [up] thine eyes in compass, and see (Raise up thine eyes, and look all around); all these men be gathered together, they be come to thee. (As) I live, saith the Lord, for thou shalt be clothed with all these as with an ornament, and thou as a spousess shalt bind them to thee.
19 For why thy deserts, and thy wildernesses, and the land of thy falling, now shall be strait for [the] inhabiters; and they shall be driven away far, that swallowed thee. (For thy deserts, and thy wildernesses, and the land of thy falling, shall now be too narrow for your inhabitants; and they who swallowed thee up shall be driven far away.)
20 Yet the sons of thy barrenness shall say in thine ears, The place is (too) strait to me, make thou a space to me for to dwell. (Yet the children born in thy barrenness shall say in thy ears, This place is too narrow for us, make thou a space for us to live in.)
21 And thou shalt say in thine heart, Who engendered these sons to me? I am barren, not bearing child; I am led over, and (a) prisoner; and who nourished these sons? I am destitute, and alone; and where were these? (And thou shalt say in thy heart, Who begat these children for me? for I am barren, and have not given birth to any children; yea, I am led over, and a prisoner; and who nourished these children? for I am destitute, and alone; where did they all come from?)
22 The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I raise mine hand to heathen men, and I shall enhance my sign to peoples (The Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall raise up my hand to the heathen, and I shall exalt my sign to the peoples); and they shall bring thy sons in (their) arms, and they shall bear thy daughters on (their) shoulders.
23 And kings shall be thy nursers, and queens shall be thy nurses; with cheer cast down into [the] earth they shall worship thee, and they shall lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know, that I am the Lord, on whom they shall not be shamed, that abide him. (And kings and queens shall be thy nurses; they shall worship thee with faces cast down to the ground, and they shall lick the dust off thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that none who wait for me, shall be ashamed.)
24 Whether prey shall be taken away from a strong man? either that that is taken of a stalworthy man, may be safe? (Shall spoils be taken away from the strong? or can a captive be set free from a tyrant?)
25 For the Lord saith these things, Soothly and [the] captivity shall be taken away from the strong man, and that that is taken away of a stalworthy man, shall be saved. Forsooth I shall deem them that deemed thee, and I shall save thy sons. (For the Lord saith these things, Truly, the captives shall be taken away from the strong, and spoils shall be taken away from a tyrant. For I shall judge them who judged thee, and I shall save thy children.)
26 And I shall feed thine enemies with their fleshes, and they shall be greatly filled with their blood, as with must; and each man shall know, that I am the Lord, saving thee, and thine again-buyer, the Strong of Jacob. (And I shall feed thy enemies with their own flesh, and they shall be greatly filled with their own blood, like with wine; and everyone shall know, that I am the Lord, who saveth thee, and thy Redeemer, the Strong One of Jacob.)
4 Therefore, brethren, from henceforward we pray you, and beseech in the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us, how it behooveth you to go and to please God, so walk ye, that ye abound more.
2 For ye know what commandments I have given to you by the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, your holiness, that ye abstain you from fornication.
4 That each of you know how to wield his vessel in holiness, and honour;
5 not in passion of lust, as heathen men that know not God.
6 And that no man over-go, neither deceive his brother, in chaffering. For the Lord is venger of all these things, as we before-said to you, and have witnessed.
7 For God called not us into uncleanness, but into holiness.
8 Therefore he that despiseth these things, despiseth not man, but God, that also gave his Holy Spirit in us.
9 But of the charity of brotherhood we had no need to write to you; ye yourselves have learned of God, that ye love together;
10 [and] for ye do that into all brethren in all Macedonia. And, brethren, we pray you, that ye abound more;
11 and take keep, that ye be quiet; and that ye do your need [and give work, or busyness, that ye be quiet, and do your need], and that ye work with your [own] hands, as we have commanded to you;
12 and that ye wander honestly to them that be withoutforth, and that of no man ye desire any thing [and that of no man's ye desire any thing].
13 For, brethren, we will not, that ye not know of men that die [Forsooth, brethren, we will not you to unknow of men sleeping, or dying], that ye be not sorrowful, as [and] others that have not hope.
14 For if we believe, that Jesus was dead, and rose again, so God shall lead with him them that be dead by Jesus [so and God shall lead with him them that slept, or died, by Jesus].
15 And we say this thing to you in the word of the Lord, that we that live, that be left in the coming of the Lord, shall not come before them that be dead. [Soothly this thing we say to you in the word of the Lord, that we that live, that be residue, or left, in the coming of the Lord, shall not come before them that slept, or died.]
16 For the Lord himself shall come down from heaven, in the commandment, and in the voice of an archangel [in the commanding, and in the voice of the archangel], and in the trump of God; and the dead men that be in Christ, shall rise again first.
17 Afterward we that live, that be left, shall be snatched (up) together with them in clouds, meeting Christ in the air; and so evermore we shall be with the Lord.
18 Therefore be ye comforted together in these words. [Therefore comfort ye together in these words.]
2001 by Terence P. Noble