Isaiah 47
1 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.
“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
2 Take millstones, and grind meal, —Put back thy veil—tuck up thy train Bare the leg, wade through streams:
Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
3 Bared shall be thy shame, Yea seen thy reproach, —An avenging, will I take, And will accept no son of earth.
Your nakedness will be uncovered and your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”
4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts, is his name! The Holy One of Israel.
Our Redeemer—the LORD of Hosts is His name— is the Holy One of Israel.
5 Sit silent, and get into darkness, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For thou shalt no more be called Mistress of Kingdoms.
“Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of Chaldea. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
6 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.
I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.
7 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,
You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.
8 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.
So now hear this, O lover of luxury who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’
9 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.
These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.
10 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.
You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 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.
But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.
12 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.
So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!
13 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.
You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you— your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate.
14 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.
Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.
15 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.
This is what they are to you— those with whom you have labored and traded from youth— each one strays in his own direction; not one of them can save you.
