Isaiah 47
1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground, there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for men shall nevermore call thee, Tender and delicate.
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.
2 Take the mill, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, lift up the train, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
Go to work grinding flour with millstones. Remove your veil. Strip off your skirt, bare your legs, wade through rivers.
3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not regard any man.
You will be seen naked; what should be kept private will be shamefully exposed. I will take vengeance—I won't spare anyone.
4 Our redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
Our Redeemer—his name is the Lord Almighty—is the Holy One of Israel.
5 Sit thou silent, and enter into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for men shall never more call thee, The mistress of kingdoms.
Sit quietly, and go into the darkness, daughter of Babylonia. Never again will you be called queen of all kingdoms.
6 I was wroth over my people, I defiled my inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: [yet] thou didst grant them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou laid very heavily thy yoke.
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.
7 And thou saidst, For ever shall I be mistress; until that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, thou didst not call to mind the result thereof.
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.
8 And now hear this, luxurious one, that dwellest in security, that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is nothing else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
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.”
9 Yet both these 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, despite of the multitude of thy sorceries, despite of the very great abundance of thy enchantments.
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.
10 And thou didst trust in thy wickedness: thou saidst, No one seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, —these were they that seduced thee; and thou saidst in thy heart, I am, and there is nothing else beside me.
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.”
11 And there shall come upon thee an evil, which thou shalt not know how to remove it by prayer; and there shall fall upon thee mischief, which thou shalt not be able to atone for; and there shall come upon thee suddenly desolation, which thou shalt not know.
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.
12 Stand now with thy enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; peradventure thou mayest be able to profit, peradventure thou mayest withstand.
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!
13 Thou art wearied with the multitude of thy counsels. Do let now those that divide off the heavens, that look at the stars, that announce [coming] events at new moons, stand up, and save thee from the things that are to come over thee.
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!
14 Behold, they are become as stubble; the fire burneth them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: not a coal shall be left to warm at, no blaze to sit before it.
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!
15 Thus are they become unto thee with whom thou hast labored; those that had commerce with thee from thy youth, wander away every one on his road: there is no one to save thee.
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.
