1 C ome down and sit in the dust, virgin-daughter of Babylon! Sit on the ground,— no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.

“ Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate.

2 T ake the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, lift up the train, uncover the leg, pass over rivers:

“Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, strip off the skirt, Uncover the leg, cross the rivers.

3 t hy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will meet none. …

“Your nakedness will be uncovered, Your shame also will be exposed; I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.”

4 O ur Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. …

Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.

5 S it silent, and get thee into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called, Mistress of kingdoms.

“ Sit silently, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, For you will no longer be called The queen of kingdoms.

6 I was wroth with my people, I polluted mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the aged didst thou very heavily lay thy yoke;

“I was angry with My people, I profaned My heritage And gave them into your hand. You did not show mercy to them, On the aged you made your yoke very heavy.

7 a nd thou saidst, I shall be a mistress for ever; so that thou didst not take these things to heart, thou didst not remember the end thereof.

“Yet you said, ‘I will be a queen forever.’ These things you did not consider Nor remember the outcome of them.

8 A nd now hear this, thou voluptuous one, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thy heart, It is I, and there is none but me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know loss of children:

“Now, then, hear this, you sensual one, Who dwells securely, Who says in your heart, ‘ I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a widow, Nor know loss of children.’

9 y et these two things shall come upon thee in a moment, in one day, loss of children and widowhood; they shall come upon thee in full measure for the multitude of thy sorceries, for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

“But these two things will come on you suddenly in one day: Loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in full measure In spite of your many sorceries, In spite of the great power of your spells.

10 F or thou hast confided in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath seduced thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, It is I, and there is none but me.

“You felt secure in your wickedness and said, ‘ No one sees me,’ Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you; For you have said in your heart, ‘ I am, and there is no one besides me.’

11 B ut evil shall come upon thee—thou shalt not know from whence it riseth; and mischief shall fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be able to ward off; and desolation that thou suspectest not shall come upon thee suddenly.

“But evil will come on you Which you will not know how to charm away; And disaster will fall on you For which you cannot atone; And destruction about which you do not know Will come on you suddenly.

12 S tand now with thine enchantments and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to turn them to profit, if so be thou mayest cause terror.

“Stand fast now in your spells And in your many sorceries With which you have labored from your youth; Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you may cause trembling.

13 T hou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the interpreters of the heavens, the observers of the stars, who predict according to the new moons what shall come upon thee, stand up, and save thee.

“You are wearied with your many counsels; Let now the astrologers, Those who prophesy by the stars, Those who predict by the new moons, Stand up and save you from what will come upon you.

14 B ehold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, fire to sit before it.

“Behold, they have become like stubble, Fire burns them; They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame; There will be no coal to warm by Nor a fire to sit before!

15 T hus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, they that trafficked with thee from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his own quarter; there is none to save thee.

“So have those become to you with whom you have labored, Who have trafficked with you from your youth; Each has wandered in his own way; There is none to save you.