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 you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.

² Take the millstones and grind flour;
put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
pass through the rivers.

³ Your nakedness will be uncovered,
and your shame will be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one."

⁴ Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.

⁵ Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.

⁶ I was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
you showed them no mercy;
on the old you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.

⁷ You said, "I shall be mistress forever,"
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.

⁸ Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
"I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children":

⁹ These two things will come to you
in a moment, in one day:
loss of children and widowhood—
they will come on you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.

¹⁰ You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, "No one sees me";
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
"I am, and there is no one besides me."

¹¹ But evil will come upon you,
which you will not know how to charm away;
disaster will fall upon you,
for which you will not be able to atone;
and ruin will come upon you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.

¹² Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.

¹³ You are wearied with your many counsels;
let them stand forth and save you,
those who divide the heavens,
who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons make known
what will come upon you.

¹⁴ Behold, they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
This is no coal for warming oneself,
no fire to sit before!

¹⁵ Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have done business with you from your youth;
they each wander in their own direction;
there is no one to save you.