Isaiah 47:1-15 - Babylon's Fall
1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans. For thou shall no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal. Remove thy veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers. 3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and will spare no man. 4 Our Redeemer, 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 shall no more be called The mistress of kingdoms. 6 I was angry with my people. I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into thy hand. Thou showed them no mercy. Upon the aged thou have laid thy yoke very heavily. 7 And thou said, I shall be mistress forever, so that thou did not lay these things to thy heart, nor remembered the latter end of it.
8 Now therefore hear this, thou who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of sons. 9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day: the loss of sons, and widowhood. In their full measure they shall come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments. 10 For thou have trusted in thy wickedness. Thou have said, None sees me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it has perverted thee. And thou have said in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. 11 Therefore evil shall come upon thee. Thou shall not know the dawning of it. And mischief shall fall upon thee. Thou shall not be able to put it away. And desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou know not. 12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou have labored from thy youth, if so be thou shall be able to profit, if so be thou may prevail. 13 Thou are wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from the 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. It shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before. 15 Thus shall be the things to thee, in which thou have labored. Those who have trafficked with thee from thy youth shall wander each one to his quarter. There shall be none to save thee.
11 Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye who plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses, 12 your mother shall be utterly put to shame. She who bore you shall be confounded. Behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 13 Because of the wrath of LORD she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. 14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye who bend the bow. Shoot at her; spare no arrows. For she has sinned against LORD. 15 Shout against her round about. She has submitted herself. Her bulwarks are fallen. Her walls are thrown down. For it is the vengeance of LORD. Take vengeance upon her. As she has done, do to her. 16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn each one to his people, and they shall flee each one to his own land.