New Living Translation
Isaiah • Chapter 47
1
“Come down, virgin daughter of Babylon, and sit in the dust.<br>For your days of sitting on a throne have ended.<br>O daughter of Babylonia, never again will you be<br>the lovely princess, tender and delicate.<br>
2
Take heavy millstones and grind flour.<br>Remove your veil, and strip off your robe.<br>Expose yourself to public view.<br>
3
You will be naked and burdened with shame.<br>I will take vengeance against you without pity.”<br>
4
Our Redeemer, whose name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,<br>is the Holy One of Israel.<br>
5
“O beautiful Babylon, sit now in darkness and silence.<br>Never again will you be known as the queen of kingdoms.<br>
6
For I was angry with my chosen people<br>and punished them by letting them fall into your hands.<br>But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy.<br>You oppressed even the elderly.<br>
7
You said, ‘I will reign forever as queen of the world!’<br>You did not reflect on your actions<br>or think about their consequences.<br>
8
“Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom,<br>living at ease and feeling secure.<br>You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.<br>I will never be a widow or lose my children.’<br>
9
Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment:<br>widowhood and the loss of your children.<br>Yes, these calamities will come upon you,<br>despite all your witchcraft and magic.<br>
10
“You felt secure in your wickedness.<br>‘No one sees me,’ you said.<br>But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray,<br>and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’<br>
11
So disaster will overtake you,<br>and you won’t be able to charm it away.<br>Calamity will fall upon you,<br>and you won’t be able to buy your way out.<br>A catastrophe will strike you suddenly,<br>one for which you are not prepared.<br>
12
“Now use your magical charms!<br>Use the spells you have worked at all these years!<br>Maybe they will do you some good.<br>Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.<br>
13
All the advice you receive has made you tired.<br>Where are all your astrologers,<br>those stargazers who make predictions each month?<br>Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds.<br>
14
But they are like straw burning in a fire;<br>they cannot save themselves from the flame.<br>You will get no help from them at all;<br>their hearth is no place to sit for warmth.<br>
15
And all your friends,<br>those with whom you’ve done business since childhood,<br>will go their own ways,<br>turning a deaf ear to your cries.<br>