Isaiah 47:1-15

  • Fall of Babylon (1-15)

    • Astrologers exposed (13-15)

47  Come down and sit in the dust,O virgin daughter of Babylon.+ Sit down on the ground where there is no throne,+O daughter of the Chal·deʹans,For never again will people call you delicate and pampered.  2  Take a hand mill and grind flour. Remove your veil. Strip off your skirt, uncover your legs. Cross over the rivers.  3  Your nakedness will be uncovered. Your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance,+ and no man will stand in my way.*  4  “The One repurchasing us—Jehovah of armies is his name—Is the Holy One of Israel.”+  5  Sit there silently and go into darkness,O daughter of the Chal·deʹans;+No more will they call you Mistress* of Kingdoms.+  6  I grew indignant at my people.+ I profaned my inheritance,+And I gave them into your hand.+ But you showed them no mercy.+ Even on the elderly you placed a heavy yoke.+  7  You said: “I will always be the Mistress,* forever.”+ You did not take these things to heart;You did not consider how the matter would end.  8  Now hear this, O lover of pleasure,+Who sits in security, who says in her heart: “I am the one, and there is no one else.+ I will not become a widow. I will never know the loss of children.”+  9  But these two things will come upon you suddenly, in one day:+ Loss of children and widowhood. In full measure they will come upon you+Because of* your many sorceries and all your powerful spells.+ 10  You trusted in your wickedness. You said: “No one sees me.” Your wisdom and knowledge are what led you astray,And you say in your heart: “I am the one, and there is no one else.” 11  But calamity will come upon you,And none of your charms will stop it.* Adversity will befall you; you will not be able to avert it. Sudden ruin will come upon you like you have never known.+ 12  Go ahead, then, with your spells and your many sorceries,+With which you have toiled from your youth. Perhaps you may be able to benefit;Perhaps you may strike people with awe. 13  You have grown weary with the multitude of your advisers. Let them stand up now and save you,Those who worship the heavens,* who gaze at the stars,+Those giving out knowledge at the new moonsAbout the things that will come upon you. 14  Look! They are like stubble. A fire will burn them up. They cannot save themselves* from the power of the flame. These are not charcoals for keeping warm,And this is not a fire to sit in front of. 15  So your charmers will become to you,Those with whom you toiled from your youth. They will wander, each one in his own direction.* There will be no one to save you.+

Footnotes

Or possibly, “and I will not meet anyone kindly.”
Or “Queen.”
Or “Queen.”
Or possibly, “Despite.”
Or “And you will not know how to charm it away.”
Or possibly, “Those who divide the heavens; The astrologers.”
Or “their soul.”
Lit., “to his own region.”