13I HAVE BROUGHT NEAR RIGHTEOUSNESS MY NOT IT IS FAR AWAY AND SALVATION MY NOT IT WILL DELAY AND I WILL GIVE IN ZION SALVATION TO ISRAEL SPLENDOR MY 13I am bringing My righteousness near; it is not far away, and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion and adorn Israel with My splendor. [’’]
1GO DOWN AND SIT ON [THE] DUST O VIRGIN OF [THE] DAUGHTER OF BABYLON SIT TO THE GROUND THERE NOT [IS] A THRONE O DAUGHTER OF [THE] CHALDEANS FOR NOT YOU WILL REPEAT PEOPLE WILL CALL <TO> YOU TENDER AND DELICATE The Humiliation of Babylon 1“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of the Chaldeans!*NoteCloseThat is, the Babylonians; also in verse 5 For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
2TAKE A HAND-MILL AND GRIND FLOUR UNCOVER VEIL YOUR STRIP OFF A SKIRT UNCOVER A LEG PASS THROUGH RIVERS 2Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
3LET IT BE UNCOVERED NAKEDNESS YOUR ALSO LET IT BE VISIBLE REPROACH YOUR VENGEANCE I WILL TAKE AND NOT I WILL MEET ANYONE 3Your nakedness will be uncovered and your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”
4REDEEMER OUR [IS] YAHWEH OF HOSTS NAME HIS [THE] HOLY [ONE] OF ISRAEL 4Our Redeemer— the LORD of Hosts is His name— is the Holy One of Israel.
5SIT SILENTLY AND GO IN <THE> DARKNESS O DAUGHTER OF [THE] CHALDEANS FOR NOT YOU WILL REPEAT PEOPLE WILL CALL <TO> YOU QUEEN OF KINGDOMS 5“Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
6I WAS ANGRY TOWARDS PEOPLE MY I PROFANED INHERITANCE MY AND I GAVE THEM IN HAND YOUR NOT YOU APPOINTED TO <THE> THEM COMPASSION<S> ON [THE] OLD YOU MADE HEAVY YOKE YOUR EXCEEDINGLY 6I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.
7AND YOU SAID FOR EVER I WILL BE A QUEEN UNTIL NOT YOU PUT THESE [THINGS] ON HEART YOUR NOT YOU REMEMBERED OUTCOME ITS 7You said, ‘I will be queen forever You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.
8AND THEREFORE LISTEN TO THIS O VOLUPTUOUS [WOMAN] WHO DWELLS TO SECURITY WHO SAYS IN HEART HER I AND ONLY I [AM] YET NOT I WILL LIVE A WIDOW AND NOT I WILL KNOW CHILDLESSNESS 8So now hear this, O lover of luxury who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’
9SO THEY MAY COME TO YOU BOTH OF THESE [THINGS] A MOMENT IN A DAY ONE CHILDLESSNESS AND WIDOWHOOD ACCORDING TO COMPLETENESS THEIR THEY WILL COME ON YOU IN [THE] ABUNDANCE OF SORCERIES YOUR IN [THE] POWER OF SPELLS YOUR VERY MANY 9These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.
10AND YOU TRUSTED IN EVIL YOUR YOU SAID THERE NOT [IS ONE WHO] SEES ME WISDOM YOUR AND KNOWLEDGE YOUR IT IT HAS LED AWAY YOU AND YOU SAID IN HEART YOUR I AND ONLY I [AM] YET 10You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11AND IT WILL COME ON YOU CALAMITY NOT YOU WILL KNOW TO CHARM AWAY IT AND IT MAY FALL ON YOU DISASTER NOT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO COVER IT AND IT MAY COME ON YOU SUDDENLY RUIN [WHICH] NOT YOU WILL KNOW 11But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.
12STAND PLEASE IN SPELLS YOUR AND IN [THE] ABUNDANCE OF SORCERIES YOUR IN WHICH YOU HAVE LABORED SINCE YOUTH<S> YOUR PERHAPS YOU WILL BE ABLE TO PROFIT PERHAPS YOU WILL INSPIRE AWE 12So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror!
13YOU HAVE BECOME WEARY WITH [THE] ABUNDANCE OF COUNSELS YOUR LET THEM STAND PLEASE AND LET THEM DELIVER YOU [THOSE WHO] DIVIDE <OF> [THE] HEAVENS THOSE [WHO] LOOK ON THE STARS [THOSE WHO] MAKE KNOWN TO THE NEW MOONS FROM [THE THINGS] WHICH THEY WILL COME ON YOU 13You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you— your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate.
14THERE! THEY HAVE BECOME LIKE CHAFF A FIRE IT HAS BURNED THEM NOT THEY WILL DELIVER <OBJ.> SELF THEIR FROM [THE] HAND OF [THE] FLAME THERE NOT [WILL BE] COAL TO WARM THEM A FIRE TO SIT BEFORE IT 14Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.
15THUS THEY HAVE BECOME FOR YOU [THOSE] WHOM YOU HAVE LABORED TRADERS YOUR SINCE YOUTH<S> YOUR EVERYONE TO SIDE HIS THEY HAVE WANDERED THERE NOT [IS] A DELIVERER FOR YOU 15This is what they are to you— those with whom you have labored and traded from youth— each one strays in his own direction; not one of them can save you. [’’]