Isaiah 47

1 "Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.

Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. You will no longer be called dainty and delicate.

2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.

Take the millstone and grind flour; remove your veil, strip off your flowing robe, uncover your legs, cross the streams.

3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no no man,"

Your nakedness will be uncovered, yes, your shame will be seen: I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.

4 says our Redeemer; the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

Our Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

5 "Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.

Sit in silence and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you will no longer be called queen of kingdoms.

6 I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy; on the aged you have very heavily laid your yoke.

I was angry with my people; I defiled my heritage and gave them over into your hand, but you showed them no mercy; you placed a very heavy yoke on the old people.

7 You said, 'I shall be a mistress forever;' so that you did not lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the latter end of it.

You said, “I will rule forever as sovereign queen.” You did not take these things to heart, nor did you consider how they would turn out.

8 "Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, 'I am, and there is no other besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:'

So now hear this, you who love pleasure and sit securely; you who say in your heart, “I exist, and there is no one else like me; I will never sit as a widow, nor will I ever experience loss of children.”

9 but these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come on you, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.

But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day: the loss of children and widowhood; in full force they will come on you, despite your sorceries and your many incantations and amulets.

10 For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, No one sees me; your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you, and you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no other besides me.'

You have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge lead you astray, but you say in your heart, “I exist, and there is no one else like me.”

11 Therefore disaster will come on you; you won't know when it dawns: and calamity will fall on you; you will not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come on you suddenly and unexpectedly.

Disaster will overcome you; you will not be able to drive it away with your incantations. Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to ward it off. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you know it.

12 "Stand now with your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may prevail.

Persist in casting your spells and your many sorceries which you have faithfully recited since your childhood; perhaps you will be successful, perhaps you will scare away disaster.

13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; those who conjure the heavens, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from the things that shall come on you.

You are tired out with your many consultations; let those men stand up and save you—those who chart the heavens and look at the stars, those who declare the new moons—let them save you from what will happen to you.

14 Look, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.

See, they will become like stubble. The fire will burn them up. They will not save themselves from the hand of the flame. There are no coals to warm them and no fire for them to sit by!

15 Thus shall the things be to you in which you have labored: those who have trafficked with you from your youth shall wander everyone to his quarter; there shall be none to save you.

This is what they have become to you— those with whom you have worked, and you have bought and sold with them since your youth— they wandered about each one in his own direction; there is no one who can rescue you.”