Isaiah 47
47
Chapter 47
God's message to Babylon
1‘Babylon, get down on the ground, and sit in the dirt!
Come down off your throne, young lady!
In the past, nobody has touched you,
but people will no longer say that you are so pretty.
2Use heavy stones to make grain into flour.
Take the veil off your face.
Lift up your skirt.
Walk through streams of water with bare legs.
3Stand there with your body completely bare!
Everybody will see your great shame.
I will punish you for your sins,
and nobody will escape.’
4This is what the Lord Almighty says. He is our Redeemer, Israel's Holy God.
5‘You city of the Babylonians, sit there quietly!
Go and hide in a dark place.
People will no longer call you the queen of all kingdoms.
6I was angry with my own people.
They belonged to me as my special people,
but I punished them like ordinary people.
I gave you the power to hurt them,
and you were not kind to them.
You were very cruel to old people.
7You boasted,
“I will rule other nations as queen for ever!”
But you did not think about what you were doing.
You did not think about what would happen in the end.
8So listen to me, Babylon!
You love to enjoy expensive things.
You think that you are strong and safe.
You say to yourself, “Here I am!
There is nobody as good as I am.
I will never be alone as a widow.
I will never lose my children.”
9But both of those things will happen to you!
They will happen suddenly, in only one day.
You will lose your children
and you will become a widow.
All these troubles will come to hurt you.
You can use all your powerful magic
but you will not stop this trouble!
10You thought that your evil deeds would keep you safe.
You said, “Nobody sees me!”
You think that you are very wise
and that you know everything.
But your wisdom has deceived you.
You say, “Here I am!
There is nobody as good as I am.”
11But trouble will suddenly come to you.
Your magic words will not stop it.
Trouble will come and destroy you.
You cannot pay anyone to take it away.
It will suddenly hit you,
before you even recognize it.
12So continue with your magic, if you want to.
Say your magic words.
You have always used that magic,
since you were young.
Perhaps your magic will help you.
Perhaps you will frighten your enemies!
13You receive a lot of advice,
and it has made you become tired.
Let your advisors come and stand there.
They study the sky and the stars to decide what will happen.
They say what will happen each month.
So let them come and help you!
See if they can rescue you from the trouble that is coming!
14But they are as useless as straw
that quickly burns in a fire.
They cannot save themselves,
because the fire is too hot!
This is not a nice fire to sit beside and enjoy the heat.
15You have worked with those magicians since you were young,
but you will have no help from them now.
They have gone their own separate ways.
There is nobody left who can save you.’
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Isaiah 47
47
Prediction of Babylon’s Fall
1“Come down, virgin daughter of Babylon, and sit in the dust.
For your days of sitting on a throne have ended.
O daughter of Babylonia,#47:1 Or Chaldea; also in 47:5. never again will you be
the lovely princess, tender and delicate.
2Take heavy millstones and grind flour.
Remove your veil, and strip off your robe.
Expose yourself to public view.#47:2 Hebrew Bare your legs; pass through the rivers.
3You will be naked and burdened with shame.
I will take vengeance against you without pity.”
4Our Redeemer, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
is the Holy One of Israel.
5“O beautiful Babylon, sit now in darkness and silence.
Never again will you be known as the queen of kingdoms.
6For I was angry with my chosen people
and punished them by letting them fall into your hands.
But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy.
You oppressed even the elderly.
7You said, ‘I will reign forever as queen of the world!’
You did not reflect on your actions
or think about their consequences.
8“Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom,
living at ease and feeling secure.
You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.
I will never be a widow or lose my children.’
9Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment:
widowhood and the loss of your children.
Yes, these calamities will come upon you,
despite all your witchcraft and magic.
10“You felt secure in your wickedness.
‘No one sees me,’ you said.
But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray,
and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’
11So disaster will overtake you,
and you won’t be able to charm it away.
Calamity will fall upon you,
and you won’t be able to buy your way out.
A catastrophe will strike you suddenly,
one for which you are not prepared.
12“Now use your magical charms!
Use the spells you have worked at all these years!
Maybe they will do you some good.
Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.
13All the advice you receive has made you tired.
Where are all your astrologers,
those stargazers who make predictions each month?
Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds.
14But they are like straw burning in a fire;
they cannot save themselves from the flame.
You will get no help from them at all;
their hearth is no place to sit for warmth.
15And all your friends,
those with whom you’ve done business since childhood,
will go their own ways,
turning a deaf ear to your cries.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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