“Go down and sit in the dust,
Virgin Daughter Babylon.
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter Chaldea!
For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.
“Take millstones and grind flour;
remove your veil,
strip off your skirt, bare your thigh,
wade through the streams.
“Daughter Chaldea,
sit in silence and go into darkness.
For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.
“I was angry with my people;
I profaned my possession,
and I handed them over to you.
You showed them no mercy;
you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.
“You said, ‘I will be the queen forever.’
You did not take these things to heart
or think about their outcome.
“So now hear this, lover of luxury,
who sits securely,
who says to herself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.
I will never be a widow
or know the loss of children.’
“These two things will happen to you
suddenly, in one day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will happen to you in their entirety,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the potency of your spells.
“You were secure in your wickedness;
you said, ‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and knowledge
led you astray.
You said to yourself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.’
“So take your stand with your spells
and your many sorceries,
which you have wearied yourself with from your youth.
Perhaps you will be able to succeed;
perhaps you will inspire terror!
“You are worn out with your many consultations.
So let the astrologers stand and save you —
those who observe the stars,
those who predict monthly
what will happen to you.
“Look, they are like stubble;
fire burns them.
They cannot rescue themselves
from the power of the flame.
This is not a coal for warming themselves,
or a fire to sit beside!
Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.
Additional information is provided here.
For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.