Isaiah 47
47
XLVII
1Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon I
Sit on the ground, without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans:
For thou shalt no longer be called the tender, and the delicate.
2Take the mill, and grind meal:
Take off thy veil, take up the train of thy garment;
Make bare thy leg; wade through the rivers.
3Thy nakedness shall be disclosed; yea, thy shame shall be seen:
I will take vengeance, and will not spare a man.
4 Thus saith our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name,
The Holy One of Israel:
5Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans;
For thou shalt no longer be called. The lady of Kingdoms.
6I was angry with my people, I polluted mine inheritance,
And gave them up into thine hand:
Thou didst shew them no mercy;
Upon the aged didst thou very heavily lay thy yoke.
7And thou saidst: I shall be a lady for ever:
So that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart,
Neither didst thou think upon the latter end thereof.
8Now, therefore, hear this, O thou voluptuous, that sittest in security:
Thou that sayest in thine heart: I am, and there is none besides;
I shall not sit a widow; neither shall I know the loss of children.
9Yet these two things shall come to thee in a moment,
In one day, loss of children and widowhood:
They shall come upon thee in their perfection,
Notwithstanding the multitude of thy sorceries;
Notwithstanding the great strength of thine enchantments.
10But thou didst trust in thy wickedness, and saidst: None seeth me.
Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, they perverted thee;
So that thou saidst in thine heart: I am, and there is none besides.
11Therefore shall evil come upon thee,
The dawn whereof thou shalt not perceive;
And mischief shall fall upon thee,
Which thou shalt not be able to expiate;
And destruction shall come upon thee suddenly, of which thou shalt have no apprehension.
12Persist now in thine enchantments,
And in the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth;
Perhaps thou mayest be able to profit,
Perhaps thou mayest prevail.
13Thou art wearied in the multiplicity of thy counsels:
Let them stand up now, and save thee,
The astrologers, the gazers on the stars;
They that prognosticate at every new moon
What are the events that shall happen unto thee.
14Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them up;
They shall not deliver their own souls from the power of the flame:
There shall not be a coal to warm at,
Nor a fire to sit before it.
15Thus will they prove to be unto thee, amongst whom thou hast laboured,
Those with whom thou hast had dealing from thy youth:
They shall become bewildered, every one in his quarter;
Not one will there be to save thee.
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Isaiah 47: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 47
47
An Ode to the Fall of Babylon
1“Get down from your throne and sit in the dust, O Miss Babylon!
Sit on the ground where you belong,
not on a throne, O Miss Chaldea!
For you will never be described again as ‘delicate and dainty.’ # 47:1 Or “pampered and spoiled.”
2Take off your pretty veil; # 47:2 Or “your flowing tresses.”
take two millstones and grind grain. # 47:2 Grinding with millstones was considered the lowest of menial work, usually done by slaves. See Ex. 11:5.
Lift your skirt, bare your legs, and wade through the rivers.
3Your humiliating nakedness will be uncovered,
your shame exposed and seen by all. # 47:3 It is true that Babylon has fallen historically, but we can understand that the “Babylonian system” in the church is also falling. Old concepts are crumbling and being swept away (see 2 Cor. 10:3–6) as God exposes our impurity. Yet the Redeemer stands ready to restore and revive those with hungry, passionate hearts for God.
I will take vengeance and let no one intercede for you.” # 47:3 The Hebrew meaning of this clause is uncertain.
4We have a Redeemer. Yahweh is his name,
the Commander of Angel Armies, the Holy One of Israel!
5“Sit silently and go away into the darkness, O Miss Chaldea!
For you will no longer be called the Mistress of Kingdoms.
6I became angry with my people,
so I wounded # 47:6 Or “defiled,” which comes from a root word meaning “to pierce” or “to wound.” my special ones.
I handed them over to you, and you took them captive.
You showed them no mercy;
you even made the elderly suffer under your heavy yoke.
7You thought,
‘I will be the Mistress of Kingdoms forever.’
But you never considered what you were doing
or reflected on how all this would end.
8“So now, listen to this, you pampered lover of pleasure,
who sits smug and secure and says in her heart,
‘I am, and there is no one like me!
I will never have to live as a widow
or suffer the loss of my children.’
9Suddenly both of these losses will overtake you in one day,
for you will lose your husband and your children.
Despite your many magic spells and your powerful sorceries,
you will be overwhelmed by these tragedies in full measure!
10You felt so smug and secure in your wickedness.
You thought, ‘No one sees me.’
Your idea of ‘wisdom’ and self-professed ‘knowledge’
has led you astray, saying in your heart,
‘I am! There is none like me!’
11An avalanche of evil will come upon you
that no magic spell will be able to avert.
Great disaster is about to fall upon you
that you will not be able to ward off!
Total devastation will strike you suddenly.
It will happen so swiftly you won’t even see it coming!
12“So go ahead—keep trusting in your sorceries
and the witchcraft you’ve practiced since your youth.
Perhaps you might succeed!
Perhaps you’ll scare away your impending doom!
13You must be fatigued with so much counsel!
Let the stargazers and astrologers take their stand.
See if they can help you now!
Let them make their monthly predictions.
Maybe they can reveal what
is about to come upon you.
14Look at them!
They’re nothing but straw for the consuming fire.
They can’t even rescue themselves from the power of the flame.
And this is not some cozy fire
that you sit beside to keep yourself warm!
15These traders, with whom you have dealt since your youth,
will do nothing but disappoint you.
Each has wandered off to his own way—
there is no one left to rescue you!”
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