Add parallel Print Page Options

Catastrophe of Babylon

47 Come down and sit in the dust,
    virgin daughter of Babylon.
Sit on the ground without a throne,
    daughter of the Chaldeans.
For you will no more be called
    tender and delicate.
Take the millstones and grind flour.
Remove your veil, strip off the skirt,
uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
Your nakedness will be uncovered,
    and your shame will be exposed.
I will take vengeance,
    and will spare no one.
Our Redeemer, Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name,
is the Holy One of Israel.
Sit in silence, go into darkness,
daughter of the Chaldeans.
For you will no more be called
    the mistress-queen of kingdoms.
I was angry with My people.
I profaned My heritage.
I gave them into your hand,
but you showed them no mercy.
You made your yoke very heavy on the aged.
You said, “Forever,
I will be the eternal mistress-queen!”
You did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
Now then, hear this, voluptuous one,
dwelling securely, saying in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me!
I will not sit as a widow,
or know the loss of children,”
These two things will come upon you
in a moment, in one day—
loss of children and widowhood—
they will come upon you in full measure
in spite of your many sorceries
    and your many spells.
10 You felt secure in your wickedness,
You said, “No one sees me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge
    led you astray,
so you have said in your heart,
“I am—there is no one else beside me!”
11 But calamity will come upon you.
You won’t know how to charm it away.
Disaster will fall on you,
    for which you cannot atone.
Catastrophe you cannot foresee
    will suddenly come upon you.
12 Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
which you have toiled over since your youth.
Perhaps you will succeed?
Perhaps you will cause terror?
13 You are weary of your consultations.
So many!
So let the astrologers, star-gazers, predicting by new moons,
    stand up and save you from what will come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble.
Fire will consume them.
They cannot deliver themselves
    from the power of the flame!
It is not a coal for warming by
    or a fire to sit before!
15 So much have they become to you,
with whom you have toiled,
trafficking with you from your youth,
each wandering about his own way.
No one will save you!

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)
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.
Your nakedness(I) will be exposed
    and your shame(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;(K)
    I will spare no one.(L)

Our Redeemer(M)—the Lord Almighty(N) is his name(O)
    is the Holy One(P) of Israel.

“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)
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.
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)

“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.’
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

  1. Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5