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. You will no longer be called dainty and delicate.

Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

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

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

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

Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen; I will take vengeance, and will let no man intercede.

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

Our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.

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

Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.

6 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.

I was wroth with My people, I profaned Mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand; thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

7 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.

And thou saidst: 'For ever shall I be mistress'; so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the end thereof.

8 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.”

Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that sittest securely, that sayest in thy heart: 'I am, and there is none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children';

9 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.

But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come upon thee, for the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments.

10 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.”

And thou hast been secure in thy wickedness, thou hast said: 'None seeth me'; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thy heart. 'I am, and there is none else beside me.'

11 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.

Yet shall evil came upon thee; thou shalt not know how to charm it away; and calamity shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it away; and ruin shall come upon thee suddenly, before thou knowest.

12 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.

Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.

13 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.

Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels; let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee.

14 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!

Behold, 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.

15 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.”

Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured; they that have trafficked with thee from thy youth shall wander every one to his quarter; there shall be none to save thee.