Mourning for Babylon

47 (A)Come down and sit in the dust,
(B)Virgin (C)daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you will no longer be called (D)tender and delicate.
Take the (E)millstones and (F)grind flour.
Remove your (G)veil, (H)strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
Your (I)nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame will also be exposed;
I will (J)take vengeance and will not spare anyone.”
Our (K)Redeemer, the Lord of armies is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
(L)Sit silently, and go into (M)darkness,
Daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The (N)queen of (O)kingdoms.
I was angry with My people,
I profaned My heritage
And handed them over to you.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the (P)aged you made your yoke very heavy.
Yet you said, ‘I will be a (Q)queen forever.’
These things you did not (R)consider
Nor remember the (S)outcome of [a]them.

“Now, then, hear this, you (T)luxuriant one,
Who (U)lives securely,
Who says in her heart,
(V)I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will (W)not sit as a widow,
Nor know the loss of children.’
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, [b]they have led you astray;
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 “Persist now in your (AH)spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to benefit,
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 save 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,
Those who have (AO)done business with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own [c]way;
There is (AP)no one to save you.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 47:7 Lit it
  2. Isaiah 47:10 Lit it has
  3. Isaiah 47:15 Lit side, region

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