1 C ome down, and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground; there is no throne for you, O Daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called dainty and delicate.

Come down, and sit on the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, Sit on the earth, there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For no more do they cry to thee, `O tender and delicate one.'

2 T ake the millstones and grind meal; take off your veil and uncover your hair. Remove your skirt, bare your leg, wade through the rivers.

Take millstones, and grind flour, Remove thy veil, draw up the skirt, Uncover the leg, pass over the floods.

3 Y our nakedness shall be exposed, and your shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no man,

Revealed is thy nakedness, yea, seen is thy reproach, Vengeance I take, and I meet not a man.

4 o ur Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel.

Our redeemer Jehovah of Hosts, His name the Holy One of Israel.

5 S it in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the lady and mistress of kingdoms.

Sit silent, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For no more do they cry to thee, `Mistress of kingdoms.'

6 I was angry with My people, I profaned My inheritance; and I gave them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; upon the old people you made your yoke very heavy.

I have been wroth against My people, I have polluted Mine inheritance And I give them into thy hand, Thou hast not appointed for them mercies, On the aged thou hast made thy yoke very heavy,

7 A nd you said, I shall be the mistress forever! So you did not lay these things to heart, nor did you remember the certain, ultimate end of such conduct.

And thou sayest, `To the age I am mistress,' While thou hast not laid these things to thy heart, Thou hast not remembered the latter end of it.

8 T herefore now, hear this, you who love pleasures and are given over to them, you who dwell safely and sit securely, who say in your mind, I am and there is no one else besides me. I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children.

And now, hear this, O luxurious one, Who is sitting confidently -- Who is saying in her heart, `I, and none else, I sit not a widow, nor know bereavement.'

9 B ut these two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day: loss of children and widowhood. They shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of the multitude of power given you by the assistance of evil spirits, in spite of the great abundance of your enchantments.

And come in to thee do these two things, In a moment, in one day, childlessness and widowhood, According to their perfection they have come upon thee, In the multitude of thy sorceries, In the exceeding might of thy charms.

10 F or you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart and mind, I am, and there is no one besides me.

And thou art confident in thy wickedness, Thou hast said, `There is none seeing me,' Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, It is turning thee back, And thou sayest in thy heart, `I, and none else.'

11 T herefore shall evil come upon you; you shall not know the dawning of it or how to charm it away. And a disaster and evil shall fall upon you that you shall not be able to atone for; and desolation shall come upon you suddenly, about which you shall know nothing or how to avert it.

And come in on thee hath evil, Thou knowest not its rising, And fall on thee doth mischief, Thou art not able to pacify it, And come on thee suddenly doth desolation, Thou knowest not.

12 P ersist, then, with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth; and see if perhaps you will be able to profit, if you will prevail and strike terror!

Stand, I pray thee, in thy charms, And in the multitude of thy sorceries, In which thou hast laboured from thy youth, It may be thou art able to profit, It may be thou dost terrify!

13 Y ou are wearied with your many counsels and plans. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly prognosticators stand up and make known to you and save you from the things that shall come upon you.

Thou hast been wearied in the multitude of thy counsels, Stand up, I pray thee, and save thee, Let the charmers of the heavens, Those looking on the stars, Those teaching concerning the months, From those things that come on thee!

14 B ehold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them. They cannot even deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There is no coal for warming or fire before which to sit!

Lo, they have been as stubble! Fire hath burned them, They deliver not themselves from the power of the flame, There is not a coal to warm them, a light to sit before it.

15 S uch to you shall they be, those with whom you have labored and such their fate, those who have done business with you from your youth; they will wander, every one to his own quarter and in his own direction. No one will save you.

So have they been to thee with whom thou hast laboured, Thy merchants from thy youth, Each to his passage they have wandered, Thy saviour is not!