Isaiah 47
47
Babylon will fall
The LORD said:
1City of Babylon,#Is 13.1—14.23; Jr 50.1—51.64.
you are delicate
and untouched,
but that will change.
Surrender your royal power
and sit in the dust.
2Start grinding grain!
Take off your veil.
Strip off your fine clothes
and cross over 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 Saviour.
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 for ever.
You didn't care what you did;
it never entered your mind
that you might get caught.
8You think that you alone#Rev 18.7,8.
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.
Perhaps—just perhaps—
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 and 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 fortune-tellers
you have done business with
all your life.
But they don't know
where they are going,
and they can't save you.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 47: CEVUK
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Isaiah 47
47
Babylon’s Fall
1Go, sit in the dirt,
virgin princess of Babylon!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
princess of the Babylonians!
You will no longer be called soft and delicate.
2Take millstones and grind flour.
Remove your veil.
Take off your skirt.
Uncover your legs, and cross the river.
3People will see you naked.
People will see your shame.
I will take revenge.
I won’t spare anyone.
4Our defender is the Holy One of Israel.
His name is the Lord of Armies.
5Go into the dark, and sit in silence,
princess of the Babylonians!
You will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
6I was angry with my people.
I dishonored those who belong to me.
I put them under your control.
You showed them no mercy.
You placed a heavy burden on old people.
7You said, “I will always be a queen.”
You didn’t carefully consider these things
or keep in mind how they would end.
8Now then, listen to this, you lover of pleasure.
You live securely and say to yourself,
“I’m the only one, and there’s no one else.
I won’t live as a widow.
I won’t suffer the loss of children.”
9In one day both of these will happen to you instantly:
the loss of your children and your husband.
All this will happen to you in spite of
your evil magic and your many spells.
10You feel safe in your wickedness
and say, “No one can see me.”
Your wisdom and knowledge have led you astray,
so you say to yourself,
“I’m the only one, and there’s no one else.”
11But evil will happen to you.
You won’t know how to keep it away.
Disaster will strike you.
You won’t be able to stop it.
Destruction will overtake you suddenly.
You won’t expect it.
12Keep practicing your spells and your evil magic.
You have practiced them ever since you were young.
You may succeed.
You may cause terror.
13You are worn out by your many plans.
Let your astrologers and your stargazers,
who foretell the future month by month,
come to you, rise up, and save you.
14They are like straw.
Fire burns them.
They can’t rescue themselves from the flames.
There are no glowing coals to keep them warm
and no fire for them to sit by.
15This is how it will be for those who have worked with you,
for those who have been with you ever since you were young.
They will go their own ways,
and there will be no one to save you.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.