47 ‘Babylon, get down on the ground, and sit in the dirt!
Come down off your throne, young lady!
In the past, nobody has touched you,
but people will no longer say that you are so pretty.
2 Use heavy stones to make grain into flour.
Take the veil off your face.
Lift up your skirt.
Walk through streams of water with bare legs.
3 Stand there with your body completely bare!
Everybody will see your great shame.
I will punish you for your sins,
and nobody will escape.’
4 This is what the Lord Almighty says. He is our Redeemer, Israel's Holy God.
5 ‘You city of the Babylonians, sit there quietly!
Go and hide in a dark place.
People will no longer call you the queen of all kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my own people.
They belonged to me as my special people,
but I punished them like ordinary people.
I gave you the power to hurt them,
and you were not kind to them.
You were very cruel to old people.
7 You boasted,
“I will rule other nations as queen for ever!”
But you did not think about what you were doing.
You did not think about what would happen in the end.
8 So listen to me, Babylon!
You love to enjoy expensive things.
You think that you are strong and safe.
You say to yourself, “Here I am!
There is nobody as good as I am.
I will never be alone as a widow.
I will never lose my children.”
9 But both of those things will happen to you!
They will happen suddenly, in only one day.
You will lose your children
and you will become a widow.
All these troubles will come to hurt you.
You can use all your powerful magic
but you will not stop this trouble!
10 You thought that your evil deeds would keep you safe.
You said, “Nobody sees me!”
You think that you are very wise
and that you know everything.
But your wisdom has deceived you.
You say, “Here I am!
There is nobody as good as I am.”
11 But trouble will suddenly come to you.
Your magic words will not stop it.
Trouble will come and destroy you.
You cannot pay anyone to take it away.
It will suddenly hit you,
before you even recognize it.
12 So continue with your magic, if you want to.
Say your magic words.
You have always used that magic,
since you were young.
Perhaps your magic will help you.
Perhaps you will frighten your enemies!
13 You receive a lot of advice,
and it has made you become tired.
Let your advisors come and stand there.
They study the sky and the stars to decide what will happen.
They say what will happen each month.
So let them come and help you!
See if they can rescue you from the trouble that is coming!
14 But they are as useless as straw
that quickly burns in a fire.
They cannot save themselves,
because the fire is too hot!
This is not a nice fire to sit beside and enjoy the heat.
15 You have worked with those magicians since you were young,
but you will have no help from them now.
They have gone their own separate ways.
There is nobody left who can save you.’
47 “Fall down and sit in the dirt, Virgin Daughter Babylon.
You have no throne, so sit on the ground, daughter of the Chaldeans. [ a ]
You are not the ruler now.
You are no longer the beautiful young princess that people said you were.
2 Get the millstones ready
and grind the grain into flour.
Take off your veil and fancy clothes.
Lift your skirt and get ready to cross the rivers. [ b ]
3 Men will see your naked body
and use you for sex.
I will make you pay for the bad things you did,
and I will not let anyone help you.
4 “My people say, ‘God saves us.
His name is the Lord All-Powerful, the Holy One of Israel.’”
5 “So Babylon, sit down and shut up.
Daughter of the Chaldeans, go into the dark prison.
You will no longer be ‘The Queen of the Kingdoms.’
6 “I was angry with my people.
They were mine, but I turned against them.
I let you punish them,
but you showed them no mercy.
Even for those who were old
you made the work hard.
7 You said, ‘I will live forever.
I will always be the queen.’
You didn’t care what you did to my people.
You didn’t think about what might happen later.
8 So now listen, you who love only pleasure!
Feeling so safe, you tell yourself,
‘I alone am important, and no one else matters.
I will never be a widow or lose my children.’
9 These two things will happen to you:
First, you will lose your children and then your husband.
And none of your magic spells will help you.
10 You do bad things but still feel safe. [ c ]
You say to yourself, ‘No one sees the wrong I do.’
You thought that your wisdom and knowledge would save you.
You tell yourself, ‘I alone am important,
and no one else matters.’
11 “But disaster is coming your way.
You don’t know when it will happen, but disaster is coming.
And there is nothing you can do to stop it.
12 You worked hard all your life
learning magic and spells.
So start using that magic.
Maybe those spells will help you.
Maybe you will be able to frighten someone.
13 You have many advisors.
Are you tired of the advice they give?
Then send out your men who read the stars.
They can tell when the month starts,
so maybe they can tell you when your troubles will come.
14 But they cannot even save themselves.
They will burn like straw.
They will burn so fast that there will be no coals left to cook bread.
There will be no fire left to sit by.
15 That’s what will happen to those you have worked with,
the people you did business with all your life.
They will all go their own way.
There will be no one left to save you.”
47 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.
4 As for our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
6 I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.
12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.
47 “ ( A ) Come down and sit in the dust,
( B ) Virgin ( C ) daughter of Babylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you will no longer be called ( D ) tender and delicate.
2 Take the ( E ) millstones and ( F ) grind flour.
Remove your ( G ) veil, ( H ) strip off the skirt,
Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3 Your ( I ) nakedness will be uncovered,
Your shame will also be exposed;
I will ( J ) take vengeance and will not spare anyone.”
4 Our ( K ) Redeemer, the Lord of armies is His name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “ ( L ) Sit silently, and go into ( M ) darkness,
Daughter of the Chaldeans;
For you will no longer be called
The ( N ) queen of ( O ) kingdoms.
6 I was angry with My people,
I profaned My heritage
And handed them over to you.
You did not show mercy to them,
On the ( P ) aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7 Yet you said, ‘I will be a ( Q ) queen forever.’
These things you did not ( R ) consider
Nor remember the ( S ) outcome of [ a ] them.
8 “Now, then, hear this, you ( T ) luxuriant one,
Who ( U ) lives securely,
Who says in her heart,
‘ ( V ) I am, and there is no one besides me.
I will ( W ) not sit as a widow,
Nor know the loss of children.’
9 But these ( X ) two things will come on you ( Y ) suddenly in one day:
Loss of children and widowhood.
They will come on you in full measure
In spite of your many ( Z ) sorceries,
In spite of the great power of your spells.
10 You felt ( AA ) secure in your wickedness and said,
‘ ( AB ) No one sees me,’
Your ( AC ) wisdom and your knowledge, [ b ] they have led you astray;
For you have said in your heart,
‘ ( AD ) I am, and there is no one besides me.’
11 But ( AE ) evil will come on you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
And disaster will fall on you
For which you cannot atone;
And ( AF ) destruction about which you do not know
Will come on you ( AG ) suddenly.
12 “Persist now in your ( AH ) spells
And in your many sorceries
With which you have labored from your youth;
Perhaps you will be able to benefit,
Perhaps you may cause trembling.
13 You are ( AI ) wearied with your many counsels;
Let now the ( AJ ) astrologers,
Those who prophesy by the stars,
Those who predict by the new moons,
Stand up and ( AK ) save you from what will come upon you.
14 Behold, they have become ( AL ) like stubble,
( AM ) Fire burns them;
They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame;
There will be ( AN ) no coal to warm by
Nor a fire to sit before!
15 So have those become to you with whom you have labored,
Those who have ( AO ) done business with you from your youth;
Each has wandered in his own [ c ] way;
There is ( AP ) no one to save you.
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.
