Isaiah 47
47
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 forever!’
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 ahead of time.
12“So keep on casting your magic spells.
Keep on practicing 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.”
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Isaiah 47: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Isaiah 47
47
1 #
Is 13.1—14.23; Jer 50—51; Hab 1—2. Come 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.
2Take the millstones and grind meal,
put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
pass through the rivers.
3Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your shame shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no man.
4Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.
5Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
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.
7You said, “I shall be mistress for ever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
8 #
Rev 18.7. Now 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”:
9 #
Rev 18.8. These 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.
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.”
11But evil shall come upon you,
for which you cannot atone;
disaster shall fall upon you,
which you will not be able to expiate;
and ruin shall come on you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.
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.
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 predict
what#47.13 Gk Syr Compare Vg: Heb from what shall befall you.
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!
15Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have trafficked with you from your youth;
they wander about each in his own direction;
there is no one to save you.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America