Isaiah

The book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 47, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 47 New English Translation

Babylon Will Fall

   1 "Fall down! Sit in the dirt, O virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.
   2 Pick up millstones and grind flour! Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, expose your legs, cross the streams!
   3 Let your private parts be exposed! Your genitals will be on display! I will get revenge; I will not have pity on anyone,"
   4 says our protector - the LORD who commands armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
   5 "Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called 'Queen of kingdoms.'
   6 I was angry at my people; I defiled my special possession and handed them over to you. You showed them no mercy; you even placed a very heavy burden on old people.
   7 You said, 'I will rule forever as permanent queen!' You did not think about these things; you did not consider how it would turn out.
   8 So now, listen to this, O one who lives so lavishly, who lives securely, who says to herself, 'I am unique! No one can compare to me! I will never have to live as a widow; I will never lose my children.'
   9 Both of these will come upon you suddenly, in one day! You will lose your children and be widowed. You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, despite your many incantations and your numerous amulets.
   10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; you thought, 'No one sees me.' Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, 'I am unique! No one can compare to me!'
   11 Disaster will overtake you; you will not know how to charm it away. Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to appease it. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you recognize it.
   12 Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful - maybe you will scare away disaster.
   13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand - the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions - let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you!
   14 Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy.
   15 They will disappoint you, those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. Each strays off in his own direction, leaving no one to rescue you."

King James Version

   1 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.
   2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
   3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.
   4 As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
   5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
   6 ¶ 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.
   7 ¶ 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.
   8 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:
   9 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.
   10 ¶ 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.
   11 ¶ 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.
   12 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.
   13 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.
   14 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.
   15 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.