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 meal; # 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 shame will be exposed. # Jr 13:26; Lm 1:8; Ezk 16:37; Nah 3:5
I will take vengeance;
I will spare no one. # Hb obscure
4The Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer; # Is 41:14; 43:14
Yahweh of Hosts 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 placed them under your control.
You showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.
7You said, ‘I will be the mistress 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 exist, 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 exist, 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. # 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 them stand and save you —
the astrologers, # Lit dividers of the heavens who observe the stars, # Is 8:19; 44:25; 47:9; Dn 2:2,10
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 up. # Is 10:17; Jr 51:30-32,58
They cannot deliver themselves
from the power # Lit hand 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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© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 47
47
Babylon Will Fall
The Lord said:
1 #
Is 13.1—14.23; Jr 50.1—51.64. City of Babylon,
You are delicate
and untouched,
but that will change.
Surrender your royal power
and sit in the dirt.
2Start grinding grain!
Take off your veil.
Strip off your fancy clothes
and wade across rivers.#47.2 Strip … rivers: This may be a command to get ready for work that requires wading in the river, or it may be a warning that they are going to be taken away as slaves.
3You will suffer the shame
of going naked,
because I will take revenge,
and no one can escape.#47.3 escape: Or “oppose me.”
4I am the Lord All-Powerful,
the holy God of Israel.
I am their Savior.
5Babylon, be silent!
Sit in the dark.
No longer will nations
accept you as their queen.
6I was angry with my people.
So I let you take their land
and bring disgrace on them.
You showed them no mercy,
but were especially cruel
to those who were old.
7You thought that you
would be queen forever.
You didn't care what you did;
it never entered your mind
that you might get caught.
8 #
Rev 18.7,8. You think that you alone
are all-powerful,
that you won't be a widow
or lose your children.
All you care about is pleasure,
but listen to what I say.
9Your magic powers and charms
will suddenly fail,
then you will be a widow
and lose your children.
10You hid behind evil
like a shield and said,
“No one can see me!”
You were fooled by your wisdom
and your knowledge;
you felt sure that you alone
were in full control.
11But without warning,
disaster will strike—
and your magic charms
won't help at all.
12Keep using your magic powers
and your charms
as you have always done.
Maybe—just maybe—
you will frighten somebody!
13You have worn yourself out,
asking for advice
from those who study the stars
and tell the future
month after month.
Go ask them how to be saved
from what will happen.
14People who trust the stars
are as helpless as straw
in a flaming fire.
No one can even keep warm,#47.14 keep warm: Or “cook food.”
sitting by a fire
that feeds only on straw.
15These are the fortunetellers
you have done business with
all of your life.
But they don't know
where they are going,
and they can't save you.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.