Isaiah 47

Come down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground without a throne, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For you will no longer be called tender and delicate.

KJV Come 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.

Take the millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, bare your legs, wade through rivers.

KJV Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.

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

KJV Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.

Our Redeemer — the LORD of Hosts is His name — the Holy One of Israel.

KJV As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.

Sit in silence and go into darkness, Daughter of the Chaldeans, for you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.

KJV Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.

I was angry with my people; I profaned my inheritance and gave them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; on the elderly you made your yoke very heavy.

KJV I 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.

You said, 'I will be mistress forever' — you did not take these things to heart or consider how it would end.

KJV And 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.

Now hear this, you lover of pleasure, who sits securely, who says in her heart, 'I am, and there is no one besides me. I will never sit as a widow or know the loss of children.'

KJV Therefore 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:

Both of these will come upon you in a moment, in a single day: bereavement and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, despite your many sorceries and the great power of your spells.

KJV But 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.

You trusted 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.'

KJV For 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.

But disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to charm it away. Calamity will fall on you, and you will not be able to atone for it. Devastation will come upon you suddenly, before you know it.

KJV Therefore 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.

Stand now with your spells and your many sorceries, at which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you can succeed; perhaps you can inspire terror.

KJV Stand 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.

You are wearied by your many counselors. Let them stand up now and save you — those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at each new moon predict what will come upon you.

KJV Thou 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.

Look — they are like stubble; fire burns them up. They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame. This is no coal for warming, no fire to sit before.

KJV Behold, 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.

Such are those you have labored with — your traders from your youth. Each wanders off in his own direction; there is no one to save you.

KJV Thus 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.