Isaiah 47 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Prediction of Babylon’s Fall

Isa 47:1“Come down, virgin daughter of Babylon, and sit in the dust.
For your days of sitting on a throne have ended.
O daughter of Babylonia,[fn] never again will you be
the lovely princess, tender and delicate.

Isa 47:2

Isa 47:2Take heavy millstones and grind flour.
Remove your veil, and strip off your robe.
Expose yourself to public view.

Isa 47:3

Isa 47:3You will be naked and burdened with shame.
I will take vengeance against you without pity.”

Isa 47:4

Isa 47:4Our Redeemer, whose name is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,
is the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 47:5

Isa 47:5“O beautiful Babylon, sit now in darkness and silence.
Never again will you be known as the queen of kingdoms.

Isa 47:6

Isa 47:6For I was angry with my chosen people
and punished them by letting them fall into your hands.
But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy.
You oppressed even the elderly.

Isa 47:7

Isa 47:7You said, ‘I will reign forever as queen of the world!’
You did not reflect on your actions
or think about their consequences.

Isa 47:8

Isa 47:8“Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom,
living at ease and feeling secure.
You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.
I will never be a widow or lose my children.’

Isa 47:9

Isa 47:9Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment:
widowhood and the loss of your children.
Yes, these calamities will come upon you,
despite all your witchcraft and magic.

Isa 47:10

Isa 47:10“You felt secure in your wickedness.
‘No one sees me,’ you said.
But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray,
and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’

Isa 47:11

Isa 47:11So disaster will overtake you,
and you won’t be able to charm it away.
Calamity will fall upon you,
and you won’t be able to buy your way out.
A catastrophe will strike you suddenly,
one for which you are not prepared.

Isa 47:12

Isa 47:12“Now use your magical charms!
Use the spells you have worked at all these years!
Maybe they will do you some good.
Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.

Isa 47:13

Isa 47:13All the advice you receive has made you tired.
Where are all your astrologers,
those stargazers who make predictions each month?
Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds.

Isa 47:14

Isa 47:14But they are like straw burning in a fire;
they cannot save themselves from the flame.
You will get no help from them at all;
their hearth is no place to sit for warmth.

Isa 47:15

Isa 47:15And all your friends,
those with whom you’ve done business since childhood,
will go their own ways,
turning a deaf ear to your cries.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(47:1)

Or Chaldea; also in 47:5.

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For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.