1Come 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. (Ps 137:8; Isa 3:26; Isa 13:19; Isa 23:13; Isa 43:14; Isa 47:5; Isa 48:14)2Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers. (Jud 16:21; Isa 20:4; Mt 24:41)3Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one.4Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name— is the Holy One of Israel. (Isa 43:14)5Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms. (Isa 47:1; Jer 8:14)6I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy. (Isa 14:17; Isa 51:23; Zec 1:15)7You said, “I shall be mistress forever,” so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end. (Isa 47:1)8Now 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”: (Isa 45:6; Isa 45:18; Isa 47:7; Jer 50:29; La 1:1; Zep 2:15; Re 18:7)9These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments. (Isa 47:12; Isa 51:19; Jer 50:31; Na 3:4)10You 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.” (Isa 45:6; Isa 45:18; Jer 50:29)11But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing. (Ps 35:8; Jer 51:41)12Stand 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. (Isa 47:9)13You 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 shall come upon you. (Isa 44:25; Da 2:2; Da 2:10)14Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before! (Isa 10:17; Isa 41:2; Na 1:10; Mal 4:1)15Such to you are those with whom you have labored, who have done business with you from your youth; they wander about, each in his own direction; there is no one to save you.
Isaiah 47
New International Version
The fall of Babylon
1‘Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, queen city of the Babylonians.[1] No more will you be called tender or delicate.2Take millstones and grind flour; take off your veil. Lift up your skirts, bare your legs, and wade through the streams.3Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no-one.’4Our Redeemer – the Lord Almighty is his name – is the Holy One of Israel.5‘Sit in silence, go into darkness, queen city of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms.6I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke.7You said, “I am for ever – the eternal queen!” But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.8‘Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, “I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.”9Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells.10You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, “No-one sees me.” Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, “I am, and there is none besides me.”11Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.12‘Keep on, then, with your magic spells and with your many sorceries, which you have laboured at since childhood. Perhaps you will succeed, perhaps you will cause terror.13All the counsel you have received has only worn you out! Let your astrologers come forward, those stargazers who make predictions month by month, let them save you from what is coming upon you.14Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot even save themselves from the power of the flame. These are not coals for warmth; this is not a fire to sit by.15That is all they are to you – these you have dealt with and laboured with since childhood. All of them go on in their error; there is not one that can save you.
Isaiah 47
King James Version
1Come 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 thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.2Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.3Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.4As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.5Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.6I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.7And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.8Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am , and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:9But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.10For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am , and none else beside me.11Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.12Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.13Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.14Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.15Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.
Isaiah 47
New International Reader’s Version
Babylon will fall
1‘City of Babylon, go down and sit in the dust. Leave your throne and sit on the ground. Queen city of the Babylonians, your life will not be comfortable and easy anymore.2Get millstones and grind some flour like a female slave. Take off your veil. Lift up your skirts. Make your legs bare. Wade through the streams.3Everyone will see your naked body. Everyone will see your shame. I will pay you back for what you did. I will not spare any of your people.’4The one who sets us free is the Holy One of Israel. His name is the LORD Who Rules Over All.5The LORD says, ‘Queen city of the Babylonians, go into a dark prison. Sit there quietly. You will not be called the queen of kingdoms anymore.6I was angry with my people. I treated them as if they did not belong to me. I handed them over to you. And you did not show them any pity. You even placed heavy loads on their old people.7You said, “I am queen for ever!” But you did not think about what you were doing. You did not consider how things might turn out.8‘So listen, you who love pleasure. You think you are safe and secure. You say to yourself, “I am like a god. No one is greater than I am. I’ll never be a widow. And my children will never be taken away from me.”9But both of these things will happen to you in a moment. They will take place on a single day. You will lose your children. And you will become a widow. That is what will happen to you. All your evil magic and powerful spells will not save you.10You have felt secure in your evil ways. You have said, “No one sees what I’m doing.” Your wisdom and knowledge lead you astray. You say to yourself, “I am like a god. No one is greater than I am.”11So horrible trouble will come on you. You will not know how to use your evil magic to make it go away. Great trouble will fall on you. No amount of money can keep it away. Something terrible will happen to you all at once. You will not see it coming in advance.12‘So keep on casting your magic spells. Keep on practising your evil magic. You have been doing those things ever since you were a child. Perhaps they will help you. Maybe they will scare your enemies away.13All the advice you have received has only worn you out! Let those who study the heavens come forward. They claim to know what is going to happen by watching the stars every month. So let them save you from the trouble that is coming on you.14They are just like straw. Fire will burn them up. They can’t even save themselves from the powerful flames. These are not like coals that can warm anyone. This is not like a fire to sit by.15They can’t do you any good. You have done business with them ever since you were a child. You have always asked them for advice. All of them are bewildered and continue in their own ways. None of them can save you.’