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Isaiah 47
Common English Bible
Isaiah 47
Common English Bible
Daughter Babylon dethroned
47 Go down and sit in the dust,
virgin Daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter Chaldea,
because they will no longer call you tender and pampered.
2 Take the millstones and grind flour!
Remove your veil, strip off your robe,
expose your thighs, wade through the rivers!
3 Your nakedness will be exposed,
and your disgrace will be seen.
I will take vengeance;
no one will intervene.[a]
4 Our redeemer has spoken;
the Lord of heavenly forces is his name,
the holy one of Israel.
5 Sit silent and go into darkness, Daughter Chaldea,
because they will no longer call you Queen of Kingdoms.
6 I was enraged with my people;
I made my inheritance impure
and put them under your power.
You took no pity on them.
You made your yoke heavy even on the elderly.
7 You said, “I’m forever; I’m the eternal mistress.”
You didn’t stop and think;
you didn’t consider the outcome.
8 So listen to this,
luxuriant one who sits secure,
who says in her heart, I’m utterly unique;
I’ll never sit as a widow;
I’ll never know childlessness:
9 Both of these will happen to you at once, on a single day:
childlessness and widowhood
will envelop you in full measure,
despite your many sorceries,
despite your very powerful spells.
10 You felt secure in your evil;
you said, “No one sees me.”
Your wisdom and knowledge spun you around.
You thought to yourself, I and no one else.
11 Now evil will come against you,
something you won’t anticipate.
A curse will fall upon you,
something you won’t be able to dispel.
Destruction will come upon you suddenly,
something you won’t foresee.
12 Continue with your enchantments,
and with your many spells,
which you have practiced since childhood.
Maybe you will be able to succeed.
Maybe you will inspire terror.
13 You are weary from all your consultations;
let the astrologers stand up and save you,
those who gaze at the stars,
and predict what will happen to you at each new moon.
14 They are just like stubble;
the fire burns them.
They won’t save themselves from the powerful flames.
This is no warming ember or fire to sit beside.
15 Those with whom you have wearied yourself are like this,
those with whom you were in business from your youth:
each has wandered off on their own way;
none will save you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:3 Syr, cf Vulg; MT I won’t meet a man
Isaiah 47
New International Version
Isaiah 47
New International Version
The Fall of Babylon
47 “Go down, sit in the dust,(A)
Virgin Daughter(B) Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
queen city of the Babylonians.[a](C)
No more will you be called
tender or delicate.(D)
2 Take millstones(E) and grind(F) flour;
take off your veil.(G)
Lift up your skirts,(H) bare your legs,
and wade through the streams.
3 Your nakedness(I) will be exposed
and your shame(J) uncovered.
I will take vengeance;(K)
I will spare no one.(L)”
5 “Sit in silence,(Q) go into darkness,(R)
queen city of the Babylonians;(S)
no more will you be called
queen(T) of kingdoms.(U)
6 I was angry(V) with my people
and desecrated my inheritance;(W)
I gave them into your hand,(X)
and you showed them no mercy.(Y)
Even on the aged
you laid a very heavy yoke.
7 You said, ‘I am forever(Z)—
the eternal queen!’(AA)
But you did not consider these things
or reflect(AB) on what might happen.(AC)
8 “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
lounging in your security(AD)
and saying to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.(AE)
I will never be a widow(AF)
or suffer the loss of children.’
9 Both of these will overtake you
in a moment,(AG) on a single day:
loss of children(AH) and widowhood.(AI)
They will come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries(AJ)
and all your potent spells.(AK)
10 You have trusted(AL) in your wickedness
and have said, ‘No one sees me.’(AM)
Your wisdom(AN) and knowledge mislead(AO) you
when you say to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster(AP) will come upon you,
and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
will suddenly(AQ) come upon you.
12 “Keep on, then, with your magic spells
and with your many sorceries,(AR)
which you have labored at since childhood.
Perhaps you will succeed,
perhaps you will cause terror.
13 All the counsel you have received has only worn you out!(AS)
Let your astrologers(AT) come forward,
those stargazers who make predictions month by month,
let them save(AU) you from what is coming upon you.
14 Surely they are like stubble;(AV)
the fire(AW) will burn them up.
They cannot even save themselves
from the power of the flame.(AX)
These are not coals for warmth;
this is not a fire to sit by.
15 That is all they are to you—
these you have dealt with
and labored(AY) with since childhood.
All of them go on in their error;
there is not one that can save(AZ) you.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 47:1 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 5
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.