THE BOOK OF ISAIAH

 

Isaiah Chapter 47

1 ¶ Go down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: not on a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you will no longer be called tender and pampered.

2 Take millstones, and grind meal: uncover your hair, remove your long robe, bare your legs, and wade through streams.

3 Your nakedness will be uncovered, yea, your shame will be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one.

4 Our redeemer, whose name is the LORD of hosts, the Holy One of Israel, says.

5 Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you will no longer be called, The lady of kingdoms.

6 I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy; you put a very heavy yoke on the elderly.

7 ¶ And you said, I will be the mistress for ever: so you did not take these things to heart, or think about their outcome.

8 Therefore now listen to this, you who love pleasure, who live carelessly, who say in your heart, I rule, and there is no one else; I will not live as a widow, or know the loss of children:

9 Both of these things will happen to you suddenly in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: this will come upon you in its full measure in spite of all your witchcraft, and your many enchantments.

10 For you have trusted in your wickedness: and have said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray; and you tell yourself, I rule, and there is no one else.

11 Therefore disaster will come upon you; and you will not know where it comes from or how to prevent it: ruin will come down upon you; and you will not be able to keep it from happening: desolation will suddenly sweep down upon you, when you do not expect it.

12 Persist now in your enchantments, and the many sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth; if you will be able to profit, if you can prevail.

13 You are worn out from all your planning. Now let the astrologers, the stargazers, who predict monthly, stand up, and save you from these things that will happen to you.

14 Look, they are like straw; and fire will burn them; they cannot save themselves from the flames: this will not be coals to warm them, or a fire to sit beside.

15 This is what your astrologers are to you, with whom you have toiled, with whom you have dealt since you were young: they will each wander on his own way; no one will save you.