Isaiah 47
1 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 shall no more be called tender and delicate.
Descend, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon! Sit on the ground. There is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans. For you shall no longer be called delicate and tender.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal. Remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers.
Take a millstone and grind meal. Uncover your shame, bare your shoulder, reveal your legs, cross the streams.
3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and will spare no man.
Your disgrace will be revealed, and your shame will be seen. I will seize vengeance, and no man will withstand me.
4 Our Redeemer, Jehovah 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 thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shall no more be called The mistress of kingdoms.
Sit in silence, and enter into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no longer be called the noblewoman of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my people. I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into thy hand. Thou showed them no mercy. Upon the aged thou have laid thy yoke very heavily.
I was angry with my people. I have polluted my inheritance, and I have given them into your hand. You have not shown mercy to them. You have greatly increased the burden of your yoke upon the elders.
7 And thou said, I shall be mistress forever, so that thou did not lay these things to thy heart, nor remembered the latter end of it.
And you have said: “I will be a noblewoman forever.” You have not set these things upon your heart, and you have not remembered your end.
8 Now therefore hear this, thou who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of sons.
And now, hear these things, you who are delicate and have confidence, who say in your heart: “I am, and there is no one greater than me. I will not sit as a widow, and I will not know barrenness.”
9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day: the loss of sons, and widowhood. In their full measure they shall come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments.
These two things will suddenly overwhelm you in one day: barrenness and widowhood. All things shall overwhelm you, because of the multitude of your sorceries and because of the great cruelty of your enchantments.
10 For thou have trusted in thy wickedness. Thou have said, None sees me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it has perverted thee. And thou have said in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me.
And you have trusted in your malice, and you have said: “There is no one who sees me.” Your wisdom and your knowledge, these have deceived you. And you have said in your heart: “I am, and beside me there is no other.”
11 Therefore evil shall come upon thee. Thou shall not know the dawning of it. And mischief shall fall upon thee. Thou shall not be able to put it away. And desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou know not.
Evil will overwhelm you, and you will not notice its rising. And calamity will fall violently over you, and you will not be able to avert it. You will suddenly be overwhelmed by a misery such as you have never known.
12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou have labored from thy youth, if so be thou shall be able to profit, if so be thou may prevail.
Stand with your incantations, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth, as if somehow it might benefit you, or as if it were able to make you stronger.
13 Thou are wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall come upon thee.
You have failed in the multitude of your plans! Let the seers stand and save you, those who were contemplating the stars, and figuring the months, so that from these they might announce to you the things to come.
14 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.
Behold, they have become like stubble. Fire has consumed them. They will not free themselves from the power of the flames. These are not coals by which they may be warmed, nor is this a fire which they may sit beside.
15 Thus shall be the things to thee, in which thou have labored. Those who have trafficked with thee from thy youth shall wander each one to his quarter. There shall be none to save thee.
So have all these things, in which you have labored, become to you. Your merchants from your youth, each one has erred in his own way. There is no one who can save you.
