Isaiah 47

New King James Version

The Humiliation of Babylon

47 “Come ^(A)down and ^(B)sit in the dust,
O virgin daughter of ^(C)Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and ^[a]delicate.
²^(D)Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
³^(E)Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
^(F)I will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man.”

⁴As for ^(G)our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.

⁵“Sit in ^(H)silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
^(I)For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
⁶^(J)I was angry with My people;
^(K)I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
^(L)On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
⁷And you said, ‘I shall be ^(M)a lady forever,’
So that you did not ^(N)take these things to heart,
^(O)Nor remember the latter end of them.

⁸“Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,
Who dwell securely,
Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow,
Nor shall I know the loss of children’;
⁹But these two things shall come to you
^(P)In a moment, in one day:
The loss of children, and widowhood.
They shall come upon you in their fullness
Because of the multitude of your sorceries,
For the great abundance of your enchantments.

¹⁰“For you have trusted in your wickedness;
You have said, ‘No one ^(Q)sees me’;
Your wisdom and your knowledge have ^[b]warped you;
And you have said in your heart,
‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
¹¹Therefore evil shall come upon you;
You shall not know from where it arises.
And trouble shall fall upon you;
You will not be able ^[c]to put it off.
And ^(R)desolation shall come upon you ^(S)suddenly,
Which you shall not know.

¹²“Stand now with your enchantments
And the multitude of your sorceries,
In which you have labored from your youth—
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you will prevail.
¹³^(T)You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
Let now ^(U)the^[d] astrologers, the stargazers,
And ^[e]the monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
¹⁴Behold, they shall be ^(V)as stubble,
The fire shall ^(W)burn them;
They shall not deliver themselves
From the power of the flame;
It shall not be a coal to be warmed by,
Nor a fire to sit before!
¹⁵Thus shall they be to you
With whom you have labored,
^(X)Your merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his ^[f]quarter.
No one shall save you.