Isaiah 47

1 Go down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of Babylonia! No longer will people call you gentle and delicate.

Come down, and sit on the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, Sit on the earth, there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For no more do they cry to thee, 'O tender and delicate one.'

2 Go to work grinding flour with millstones. Remove your veil. Strip off your skirt, bare your legs, wade through rivers.

Take millstones, and grind flour, Remove thy veil, draw up the skirt, Uncover the leg, pass over the floods.

3 You will be seen naked; what should be kept private will be shamefully exposed. I will take vengeance—I won't spare anyone.

Revealed is thy nakedness, yea, seen is thy reproach, Vengeance I take, and I meet not a man.

4 Our Redeemer—his name is the Lord Almighty—is the Holy One of Israel.

Our redeemer [is] Jehovah of Hosts, His name [is] the Holy One of Israel.

5 Sit quietly, and go into the darkness, daughter of Babylonia. Never again will you be called queen of all kingdoms.

Sit silent, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For no more do they cry to thee, 'Mistress of kingdoms.'

6 I was angry with my people, and I abandoned those who belonged to me. I handed them over to you. But you didn't show them mercy—you even mistreated old people.

I have been wroth against My people, I have polluted Mine inheritance And I give them into thy hand, Thou hast not appointed for them mercies, On the aged thou hast made thy yoke very heavy,

7 You said, “I will reign forever as the eternal queen.” But you didn't think about what was coming; you didn't remember what would happen to you in the end.

And thou sayest, 'To the age I am mistress,' While thou hast not laid these things to thy heart, Thou hast not remembered the latter end of it.

8 Now listen to this, you sensual woman, sitting there so sure of yourself, saying to yourself, “I am supreme—there's nobody besides me. I shall never be a widow or experience the loss of my children.”

And now, hear this, O luxurious one, Who is sitting confidently — Who is saying in her heart, 'I [am], and none else, I sit not a widow, nor know bereavement.'

9 But both these things will happen to you in quick succession! In just one day you will lose your children and become a widow. You will have this experience in its totality, in spite of all your witchcraft, in spite of all your magic spells.

And come in to thee do these two things, In a moment, in one day, childlessness and widowhood, According to their perfection they have come upon thee, In the multitude of thy sorceries, In the exceeding might of thy charms.

10 You put your trust in your evil actions, saying “No one can see what I'm doing.” Your wisdom and knowledge seduced you, and you told yourself, “I am supreme—there's nobody besides me.”

And thou art confident in thy wickedness, Thou hast said, 'There is none seeing me,' Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, It is turning thee back, And thou sayest in thy heart, 'I [am], and none else.'

11 Evil is going to strike you, and you won't be able to magic it away. Disaster will fall on you that you can't stop by paying a ransom. Destruction will suddenly hit you that you weren't expecting.

And come in on thee hath evil, Thou knowest not its rising, And fall on thee doth mischief, Thou art not able to pacify it, And come on thee suddenly doth desolation, Thou knowest not.

12 So keep going with your magic spells and all your witchcraft, which you have worked at since you were young. Maybe you'll be successful, maybe you'll terrify people!

Stand, I pray thee, in thy charms, And in the multitude of thy sorceries, In which thou hast laboured from thy youth, It may be thou art able to profit, It may be thou dost terrify!

13 All the advice you've received has worn you out! Where are your astrologers, those who look to the stars for guidance, who give you their predictions every month? Let them stand up and save you from what's coming down on you!

Thou hast been wearied in the multitude of thy counsels, Stand up, I pray thee, and save thee, Let the charmers of the heavens, Those looking on the stars, Those teaching concerning the months, From those things that come on thee!

14 But look at them! They're like stubble that fire burns up completely—they can't even save their own lives from the flames. This is no fire to sit beside and grow warm!

Lo, they have been as stubble! Fire hath burned them, They deliver not themselves from the power of the flame, There is not a coal to warm them, a light to sit before it.

15 All those people you've worked with, all those you've traded with from when you were young—they will all go their own way, nobody will come and save you.

So have they been to thee with whom thou hast laboured, Thy merchants from thy youth, Each to his passage they have wandered, Thy saviour is not!