Babylon's Fall
1 But as for thee O daughter, thou virgin Babylon, thou shalt sit in the dust. Thou shalt sit upon the ground, and not in a throne, O thou maiden of Chaldea. Thou shalt no more be called tender and pleasant.
1 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.
1 “(A)Come down and sit in the dust,O (B)virgin (C)daughter of Babylon;Sit on the ground without a throne,O daughter of the Chaldeans!For you shall no longer be called (D)tender and delicate.
1 “Go down and sit in the dust,(A)Virgin Daughter Babylon.(B)Sit on the ground without a throne,Daughter Chaldea!For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.
1 "Come down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a chair, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For no longer will they call you tender and attractive.
2 Thou shalt bring forth the quern and grind meal, put down thy stomacher, make bare thy knees, and shalt wade through the water rivers.
2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
2 “Take the (E)millstones and (F)grind meal.Remove your (G)veil, (H)strip off the skirt,Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
2 Take millstones and grind meal;(C)remove your veil,strip off your skirt, bare your thigh,wade through the streams.
2 Take millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, strip off your robes, bare your legs, and wade through the rivers.
3 Thy shame shall be discovered, and thy privities shall be seen. For I will avenge me of thee, and will show no mercy to thee as I do to other men,
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.
3 “Your (I)nakedness will be uncovered,Your shame also will be exposed;I will (J)take vengeance and will not (a)spare a man.”
3 Your nakedness will be uncovered,and your shame will be exposed.(D)I will take vengeance;I will spare no one.(a)
3 Your nakedness will be exposed, and your disgrace will also be seen. I'll take vengeance, and I will spare no mortal.
5 Sit still, hold thy tongue, and get thee into some dark corner, O daughter Chaldea, for thou shalt no more be called lady of kingdoms.
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.
5 “(L)Sit silently, and go into (M)darkness,O daughter of the Chaldeans,For you will no longer be calledThe (N)queen of (O)kingdoms.
5 “Daughter Chaldea,sit in silence(F) and go into darkness.For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.
5 "Sit silent, and enter into the darkness, you daughter of the Chaldeans; for no more will they call you Queen of Kingdoms.
6 I was so wroth with my people, that I punished mine inheritance, and gave them into thy power. Nevertheless, thou showedest them no mercy, but even the very aged men of them, didst thou oppress right sore with thy yoke.
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.
6 “I was angry with My people,I profaned My heritageAnd gave them into your hand.You did not show mercy to them,On the (P)aged you made your yoke very heavy.
6 I was angry with My people;I profaned My possession,and I placed them under your control.You showed them no mercy;you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.
6 I was angry with my people, and I desecrated my heritage, and gave them into your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the aged you laid your yoke most heavily.
7 And thou thoughtest thus, "I shall be lady forever." And beside all that, thou hast not regarded these things, neither cast, what should come after.
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.
7 “Yet you said, ‘I will be a (Q)queen forever.’These things you did not (R)considerNor remember the (S)outcome of (b)them.
7 You said, ‘I will be the mistress forever.’You did not take these things to heartor think about their outcome.
7 You said, "I will always continue Queen forever!' You didn't take these things into your thinking, nor did you think about their consequences.
8 Hear now therefore, thou willful, that sittest so careless, and speakest thus in thine heart, "I am alone, and without me is there none; I shall never be widow, nor desolate again."
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:
8 “Now, then, hear this, you (T)sensual one,Who (U)dwells securely,Who says in (c)your heart,‘(V)I am, and there is no one besides me.I will (W)not sit as a widow,Nor know loss of children.’
8 “So now hear this, lover of luxury,who sits securely,(G)who says to herself,‘I exist, and there is no one else.I will never be a widowor know the loss of children.’(H)
8 "Now hear this, you wanton creature, lounging with no cares, and saying to herself: "I am the one, and there will be none besides me; I won't live as a widow, nor will I see the loss of children.'
9 And yet both these things shall come to thee upon one day, in the twinkling of an eye: Namely widowhood, and desolation. They shall mightily fall upon thee, for the multitude of thy witches, and for the great heap of thy conjurers.
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.
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 measureIn spite of your many (Z)sorceries,In spite of the great power of your spells.
9 These two things will happen to yousuddenly, in one day:loss of children and widowhood.They will happen to you in their entirety,in spite of your many sorceries(I)and the potency of your spells.
9 Both of these things will overtake you suddenly on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, despite the multitude of your incantations and the great power of your spells."
10 For thou hast comforted thyself in thy deceitfulness, and hast said, "No man seeth me." Thine own wisdom and cunning hath deceived thee, in that thou hast said, "I am alone, and without me there is none."
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.
10 “You felt (AA)secure in your wickedness and said,‘(AB)No one sees me,’Your (AC)wisdom and your knowledge, (d)they have deluded you;For you have said in your heart,‘(AD)I am, and there is no one besides me.’
10 You were secure in your wickedness;you said, ‘No one sees me.’(J)Your wisdom and knowledgeled you astray.You said to yourself,‘I exist, and there is no one else.’
10 "You trusted in your own knowledge. You said, "No one sees me.' Your wisdom and knowledge have misled you. You said in your heart, "I am the one, and there will be none besides me.'
11 Therefore shall trouble come upon thee, and thou shalt not know, from whence it shall arise. Mischief shalt fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be able to put off. A sudden misery shall come upon thee, before thou be aware.
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.
11 “But (AE)evil will come on youWhich you will not know how to charm away;And disaster will fall on youFor which you cannot atone;And (AF)destruction about which you do not knowWill come on you (AG)suddenly.
11 But disaster will happen to you;you will not know how to avert it.And it will fall on you,but you will be unable to ward it off.(b)Devastation will happen to you suddenlyand unexpectedly.(K)
11 "But disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will not be able to ward off; and devastation will come upon you suddenly, and you won't anticipate it.
12 Now go to thy conjurers, and to the multitude of thy witches, whom thou hast been acquainted with from thy youth, if they may help thee, or strengthen thee.
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.
12 “Stand fast now in your (AH)spellsAnd in your many sorceriesWith which you have labored from your youth;Perhaps you will be able to profit,Perhaps you may cause trembling.
12 So take your stand with your spellsand your many sorceries,which you have wearied yourself with from your youth.Perhaps you will be able to succeed;perhaps you will inspire terror!
12 "But stand up now with your spells and your many incantations, at which you have labored from your childhood until today,
13 Thou hast hitherto had many counsels of them; so let the heaven gazers and the beholders of stars come on now and deliver thee: yea, and let them show when these new things shall come upon thee.
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.
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.
13 You are worn out with your many consultations.So let them stand and save you—the astrologers,(c) who observe the stars,(L)who predict monthlywhat will happen to you.
13 according to your multiple schemes. Let them stand up now those who conjure the heavens and gaze at the stars, predicting at the new moons and save you from what is about to happen to them.
14 Behold, they shall be like straw, which if it be kindled with fire, no man may rid it for the vehemence of the flame: And yet it giveth no cinders to warm a man by, nor clear fire to sit by.
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.
14 “Behold, they have become (AL)like stubble,(AM)Fire burns them;They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame;There will be (AN)no coal to warm byNor a fire to sit before!
14 Look, they are like stubble;(M)fire burns them up.(N)They cannot deliver themselvesfrom the power(d) of the flame.This is not a coal for warming themselves,or a fire to sit beside!
14 "See, they are just like stubble; fire burns them up. They could not even save themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals for warming oneself, no fire to sit by.
15 Even so shall they be unto thee whom thou hast used and occupied from thy youth. Every one shall show thee his erroneous way, yet shall none of them defend thee.
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.
15 “So have those become to you with whom you have labored,Who have (AO)trafficked with you from your youth;Each has wandered in his own (e)way;There is (AP)none to save you.
15 This is what they are to you—those who have wearied youand have traded with you from your youth—each wanders on his own way;no one can save you.
15 So will they be to you those with whom you toiled and did business since your childhood they wander about, each in his own direction; there is not one who can save you.