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This prediction of the fall of Babylon follows logically that of the fall of Babylon’s gods. It is one of the most vitriolic passages in Scripture, understandably so, as Babylon came to be viewed as the symbol of evil (as in Rev 18). From lofty, queenly heights, the woman Babylon is brought low to the status of a slave girl, the most to be pitied of captives for the sexual abuse they endured as well as the hard labor.
In v.4 we again encounter the recurring title Holy One of Israel. When God expresses himself as the Holy One, he acts in redemption or in judgment, as he does here.
God used Babylon as his instrument to chastise his people (v.6), but, as with Assyria, Babylon was extreme in its destruction and ascribed to itself the status of deity (vv.8, 10). Vv.9, 12, and 13 are negative allusions to Babylon’s well-known practice of astrology.