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.

Down—and sit in the dust, O virgin Daughter of Babylon, Sit on the ground—throneless, Daughter of the Chaldeans; For thou shalt no more be called Tender and Dainty.

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

Take millstones, and grind meal, —Put back thy veil—tuck up thy train Bare the leg, wade through streams:

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

Bared shall be thy shame, Yea seen thy reproach, —An avenging, will I take, And will accept no son of earth.

4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh 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 will no longer be called queen of kingdoms.

Sit silent, and get into darkness, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For thou shalt no more be called 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 had been provoked with my people, Had profaned mine inheritance, And given them into thy hand, …Thou shewedst them no compassion, Upon the elder, madest thou very heavy 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, Unto times age-abiding, shall I be Mistress, —Insomuch that thou laidst not these things to thy heart, Didst not keep in mind the issue 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 Lady of pleasure Who dwelleth securely, Who saith in her heart, —I, [am], and there is no one besides, I shall not sit a widow, Nor know 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.

Yet shall there come to thee—both these, in a moment, in one day, Loss of children and widowhood, —To their full, have they come on thee, Spite of the mass of thine incantations, Spite of the great throng of thy spells.

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 so thou didst trust in thy wickedness, Thou saidst, no one, seeth me, Thy wisdom and knowledge, the same, seduced thee, —Therefore saidst thou in thy heart, I [am], and there is no one besides.

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.

Therefore shall come on thee—Mischief, Thou shalt not know how to charm it away Yea there shall fall on thee, Ruin, Thou shalt not be able to appease it, —And there shall come on thee suddenly. Desolation. Thou shalt not know.

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.

Take thy stand, I pray thee, With thy spells. And with the throng of thine incantations wherein thou hast wearied thyself from thy youth, —Peradventure thou mayest be able to profit Peradventure thou mayest strike me with terror.

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 hast worn thyself out with the mass of thy consultations, —Let them take their stand I pray thee that they may save thee—The dividers of the heavens—The gazers at the stars, They who make known by new moons, Somewhat of the things which 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!

Lo! they have become as straw—a fire, hath burned them up, They shall not deliver their own soul from the grasp of the flame, —There is, no live coal to warm them, nor blaze 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.”

Such, have they become to thee, with whom thou hast wearied thyself, —Thy merchants—from thy youth, will every man stagger straight onwards—There is none to save thee.