The Humiliation of Babylon
1 “Comedown andsit in the dust,
# O virgin daughter ofBabylon;
Sit on the ground without a throne,
O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
Tender and delicate.
2 Take the millstones and grind meal.
Remove your veil,
Take off the skirt,
Uncover the thigh,
Pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
Yes, your shame will be seen;
# I will take vengeance,
And I will not arbitrate with a man.”
4 Asforour Redeemer, theLordof hostsisHis name,
The Holy One of Israel.
5 “Sit insilence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
# For you shall no longer be called
The Lady of Kingdoms.
6 I was angry with My people;
# I have profaned My inheritance,
And given them into your hand.
You showed them no mercy;
# On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.
7 And you said, ‘I shall bea lady forever,’
# Sothat you did nottake thesethingsto heart,
# Nor remember the latter end of them.
8 “Therefore hear this now,youwhoaregiven to pleasures,
Who dwell securely,
Who say in your heart, ‘Iam,andthereisno one else besides me;
I shall not sitasa widow,
Nor shall I know the loss of children’;
9 But these twothingsshall come to you
# In a moment, in one day:
The loss of children, and widowhood.
They shall come upon you in their fullness
Because of the multitude of your sorceries,
For the great abundance of your enchantments.
10 “For you have trusted in your wickedness;
# You have said, ‘No onesees me’;
Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you;
And you have said in your heart,
‘Iam,andthereisno one else besides me.’
11 Therefore evil shall come upon you;
You shall not know from where it arises.
And trouble shall fall upon you;
You will not be able to put it off.
# Anddesolation shall come upon yousuddenly,
Whichyou shall not know.
12 “Stand now with your enchantments
And the multitude of your sorceries,
In which you have labored from your youth—
Perhaps you will be able to profit,
Perhaps you will prevail.
13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels;
# Let nowthe astrologers, the stargazers,
Andthe monthly prognosticators
Stand up and save you
From what shall come upon you.
14 Behold, they shall beas stubble,
# The fire shallburn them;
They shall not deliver themselves
From the power of the flame;
Itshallnotbea coal to be warmed by,
Nora fire to sit before!
15 Thus shall they be to you
With whom you have labored,
# Your merchants from your youth;
They shall wander each one to his quarter.
No one shall save you.