Isaiah 47
1 Thou virgyn, the douytir Babiloyne, go doun, sitte thou in dust, sitte thou in erthe; a kyngis seete is not to the douyter of Caldeis, for thou schalt no more be clepid soft and tendir.
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin, daughter of Babylon! Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldaeans! For thou shalt no longer be called the tender and delicate!
2 Take thou a queerne stoon, and grynde thou mele; make thou nakid thi filthe, diskeuere the schuldur, schewe the hippis, passe thou floodis.
Take the mill-stones and grind meal; Raise thy veil, lift up thy train; Make bare the leg, wade through the streams!
3 Thi schame schal be schewid, and thi schenschipe schal be seen; Y schal take veniaunce, and no man schal ayenstonde me.
Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, And thy shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance; I will make peace with none.
4 Oure ayen biere, the Lord of oostis is his name, the hooli of Israel.
Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, The Holy One of Israel.
5 Douyter of Caldeis, sitte thou, be thou stille, and entre in to derknessis, for thou schalt no more be clepid the ladi of rewmes.
Sit thou in silence; go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldaeans! For thou shalt no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.
6 I was wrooth on my puple, Y defoulid myn eritage, and Y yaf hem in thin hond, and thou settidist not mercies to hem; thou madist greuouse the yok greetli on an eld man,
I was angry with my people; I profaned my inheritance, And gave them into thy hand; Thou didst show them no mercy; Even upon the aged didst thou lay a very grievous yoke.
7 and thou seidist, With outen ende Y schal be ladi; thou puttidist not these thingis on thin herte, nether thou bithouytist on thi laste thing.
Thou saidst, “I shall be mistress forever”; So that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, Nor consider what would be the end of them.
8 And now, thou delicat, and dwellynge tristili, here these thingis, which seist in thin herte, Y am, and outakun me ther is no more; Y schal not sitte widewe, and Y schal not knowe bareynesse.
But hear thou this, thou that art given to pleasure! That sittest in security, And sayest in thy heart, “I am, and there is none besides me; I shall not be a widow, Nor see myself childless!”
9 These twei thingis, bareynesse and widewhod schulen come to thee sudenli in o dai; alle thingis camen on thee for the multitude of thi witchecraftis, and for the greet hardnesse of thin enchauntours, ether tregetours.
Behold, both these things shall come upon thee suddenly, in one day, Loss of children, and widowhood; In full measure shall they come upon thee, In spite of thy many sorceries, And the great abundance of thy enchantments.
10 And thou haddist trist in thi malice, and seidist, Noon is that seeth me; this thi wisdom and thi kunnyng disseyuede thee; and thou seidist in thin herte,
Thou didst trust in thy wickedness, and saidst, “No one seeth me”; Thy wisdom and thy knowledge have led thee astray; Thou saidst in thy heart, “I am, and there is none besides me”;
11 Y am, and outakun me ther is noon other. Yuel schal come on thee, and thou schalt not knowe the bigynning therof; and wrecchidnesse schal falle on thee, which thou schalt not mowe clense; wretchidnesse which thou knowist not, schal come on thee sudenly.
Therefore shall evil come upon thee, of which thou shalt not know the dawn; And mischief shall fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be able to expiate; Suddenly shall desolation come upon thee, when thou thinkest not of it.
12 Stonde thou with thin enchauntours, and with the multitude of thi witchis, in whiche thou trauelidist fro thi yongthe; if in hap thei profiten ony thing to thee, ether if thou maist be maad the strongere.
Persevere now in thy enchantments; In the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou hast labored from thy youth; Perhaps thou mayst be profited by them! Perhaps thou mayst make thyself feared!
13 Thou failidist in the multitude of thi councels; the false dyuynours of heuene stonde, and saue thee, whiche bihelden staris, and noumbriden monethis, that thei schulden telle bi tho thingis to comynge to thee.
Art thou wearied with thy many devices? Let them stand up, then, and save thee, The observers of the heavens, the star-gazers, They that prognosticate at every new moon The things that shall come upon thee!
14 Lo! thei ben maad as stobil, the fier hath brent hem; thei schulen not delyuere her lijf fro the power of flawme; colis ben not, bi whiche thei schulen be warmed, nether fier, that thei sitte at it.
Behold, they shall be like stubble; the fire shall burn them up; They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; Not a coal shall be left of them to warm one, Nor a spark of fire to sit by.
15 So tho thingis ben maad to thee in whiche euere thou trauelidist; thi marchauntis fro thi yongthe erriden, ech man in his weie; noon is, that schal saue thee.
Thus shall it be with them with whom thou hast labored; Thus with them with whom thou hast trafficked from thy youth; They shall go every one his own way; None shall help thee.
