Isaiah 47
47
1Go down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of Babylonia!#47:1. “Babylonia”: literally, “Chaldea,” another name for Babylonia. Also verse 5, and 48:14. No longer will people call you gentle and delicate. 2Go to work grinding flour with millstones. Remove your veil. Strip off your skirt, bare your legs, wade through rivers. 3You will be seen naked; what should be kept private will be shamefully exposed. I will take vengeance—I won't spare anyone.
4Our Redeemer—his name is the Lord Almighty—is the Holy One of Israel.
5Sit quietly, and go into the darkness, daughter of Babylonia. Never again will you be called queen of all kingdoms. 6I was angry with my people, and I abandoned those who belonged to me.#47:6. “I abandoned those who belonged to me”: literally, “I profaned my inheritance.” I handed them over to you. But you didn't show them mercy—you even mistreated old people. 7You said, “I will reign forever as the eternal queen.” But you didn't think about what was coming; you didn't remember what would happen to you in the end.
8Now listen to this, you sensual woman,#47:8. Though the image of a woman continues, the subject is the kingdom of Babylon. sitting there so sure of yourself, saying to yourself, “I am supreme#47:8. “I am supreme”: the Hebrew simply has the emphatic “I.”—there's nobody besides me. I shall never be a widow or experience the loss of my children.”
9But both these things will happen to you in quick succession! In just one day you will lose your children and become a widow. You will have this experience in its totality, in spite of all your witchcraft, in spite of all your magic spells. 10You put your trust in your evil actions, saying, “No one can see what I'm doing.” Your wisdom and knowledge seduced you, and you told yourself, “I am supreme—there's nobody besides me.” 11Evil#47:11. The same word is used here as in verse 10. is going to strike you, and you won't be able to magic it away. Disaster will fall on you that you can't stop by paying a ransom. Destruction will suddenly hit you that you weren't expecting.
12So keep going with your magic spells and all your witchcraft, which you have worked at since you were young. Maybe you'll be successful, maybe you'll terrify people! 13All the advice you've received has worn you out! Where are your astrologers, those who look to the stars for guidance, who give you their predictions every month? Let them stand up and save you from what's coming down on you! 14But look at them! They're like stubble that fire burns up completely—they can't even save their own lives from the flames. This is no fire to sit beside and grow warm! 15All those people you've worked with, all those you've traded with from when you were young—they will all go their own way, nobody will come and save you.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 47
47
The Fall of Babylon
1“Go down and sit in the dust,#Is 3:26; Jr 48:18
Virgin Daughter Babylon.#Ps 137:8; Jr 50:42; 51:33; Zch 2:7
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter Chaldea!
For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.
2Take millstones and grind flour;#Ex 11:5; Jb 31:10; Mt 24:41
remove your veil,
strip off your skirt, bare your thigh,
wade through the streams.
3Your nakedness will be uncovered,
and your disgrace will be exposed.#Jr 13:26; Lm 1:8; Ezk 16:37; Nah 3:5
I will take vengeance;
I will spare no one.”#47:3 Hb obscure
4The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer;#Is 41:14; 43:14
The Lord of Armies is his name.
5“Daughter Chaldea,
sit in silence#Is 23:2; Jr 8:14; Lm 2:10; 3:2,28 and go into darkness.
For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.
6I was angry with my people;
I profaned my possession,
and I handed them over to you.
You showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.
7You said, ‘I will be the queen forever.’
You did not take these things to heart
or think about their outcome.
8“So now hear this, lover of luxury,
who sits securely,#Zph 2:15
who says to herself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’#Rv 18:7
9These two things will happen to you
suddenly, in one day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will happen to you in their entirety,
in spite of your many sorceries#Is 47:13; Nah 3:4; Rv 18:23
and the potency of your spells.
10You were secure in your wickedness;
you said, ‘No one sees me.’#Ps 139:3,11
Your wisdom and knowledge
led you astray.
You said to yourself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.’
11But disaster will happen to you;
you will not know how to avert it.
And it will fall on you,
but you will be unable to ward it off.#47:11 Or to atone for it
Devastation will happen to you suddenly
and unexpectedly.#Is 13:6; Jr 51:8,43; Lk 17:27; 1Th 5:3
12So take your stand with your spells
and your many sorceries,
which you have wearied yourself with from your youth.
Perhaps you will be able to succeed;
perhaps you will inspire terror!
13You are worn out with your many consultations.
So let the astrologers stand and save you —
those who observe the stars,#Is 8:19; 44:25; 47:9; Dn 2:2,10
those who predict monthly
what will happen to you.
14Look, they are like stubble;#Is 5:24; Nah 1:10; Mal 4:1
fire burns them.#Is 10:17; Jr 51:30–32,58
They cannot rescue themselves
from the power of the flame.
This is not a coal for warming themselves,
or a fire to sit beside!
15This is what they are to you —
those who have wearied you
and have traded with you from your youth —
each wanders on his own way;
no one can save you.
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