Isaiah 47

Judgment on Babylon

1 “Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground, no throne for you. You are no longer called delicate or pampered.”

2 “Take millstones and grind flour. Take off your veil. Lift up your skirt, bare your legs, wade through the streams.”

3 “Your nakedness will be exposed, your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance, and no one will stop Me.”

4 Our Redeemer, the Lord of Armies is His name, the Holy One of Israel.

Babylon Loses Her Status

5 “Sit in silence and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans. No more will they call you ‘queen of kingdoms.’”

6 “I was angry with My people and let them fall into your hands, but you showed them no mercy. You even put a heavy yoke on the elderly.”

7 You said, “I will be queen forever,” but you never thought about consequences or what would come later.

8 Now hear this, you who live in luxury, sitting secure, saying in your heart: “I am, and there is no one besides me. I will never be a widow or lose my children.”

9 But both will hit you in one moment, widowhood and loss of children, despite all your magic and spells.

Babylon’s False Confidence

10 You trusted in your wickedness and said, “No one sees me.” Your wisdom and knowledge twisted you. You said, “I am, and there is no one else.”

11 But disaster is coming, and you will not know how to stop it. Trouble will fall on you, and you will not be able to buy your way out. Ruin will hit you suddenly.

The Failure of Sorcery

12 Go ahead, keep using your spells and sorcery you practiced since youth. Maybe they will help. Maybe you will strike fear.

13 You are worn out from all your advice-seeking. Let your astrologers and stargazers stand up and save you, the ones who predict month by month what is coming.

14 But they are like stubble, fire will burn them up. They cannot save themselves from the flames. This will not be a fire to warm yourself by, it will consume you.

15 That is what will happen to those you dealt with your whole life. They will wander off, each one in his own direction, and no one will save you.