Isaiah 47:1-11

1 The Lord says, ¹ "Babylon, come down from your throne, and sit in the dust on the ground. You were once like a virgin, a city unconquered, but you are soft and delicate no longer! You are now a slave!

2 Turn the millstone! Grind the flour! Off with your veil! Strip off your fine clothes! Lift up your skirts to cross the streams!

3 People will see you naked; they will see you humbled and shamed. I will take vengeance, and no one will stop me."

4 The holy God of Israel sets us free - his name is the Lord Almighty.

5 The Lord says to Babylon, "Sit in silence and darkness; no more will they call you the queen of nations!

6 I was angry with my people; I treated them as no longer mine: I put them in your power, and you showed them no mercy; even the aged you treated harshly.

7 You thought you would always be a queen, and did not take these things to heart or think how it all would end.

8 "Listen to this, you lover of pleasure, ² you that think you are safe and secure. You claim you are as great as God - that there is no one else like you. You thought that you would never be a widow or suffer the loss of your children.

9 But in a moment, in a single day, both of these things will happen. In spite of all the magic you use, you will lose your husband and children.

10 "You felt sure of yourself in your evil; you thought that no one could see you. Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray, and you said to yourself, "I am God - there is no one else like me.'

11 Disaster will come upon you, and none of your magic can stop it. Ruin will come on you suddenly - ruin you never dreamed of!

Isaiah 47:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 47

This chapter is a prophecy of the destruction of Babylon, and of the Chaldeans, and declares the causes of it. The mean, low, ignominious, and miserable condition Babylon and the Chaldeans should be brought into by the Lord, the Redeemer of his people, is described, Isa 47:1-5, the causes of it are their cruelty to the Jews, Isa 47:6, their pride, voluptuousness, and carnal security, Isa 47:7,8 their sorceries and enchantments, and trust in their own wisdom, Isa 47:9,10, wherefore their destruction should come suddenly upon them, and they should not be able to put it off, Isa 47:11, their magic art, and judiciary astrology, which they boasted of, by them they could neither foresee nor withstand their ruin, which would be of no avail unto them, Isa 47:12-14, nor their merchants either, Isa 47:15.

Cross References

• 1. 47.1-15Isaiah 13.1--14.23;Jeremiah 50.1--51.64.
• 2. 47.8, 9Revelation 18.7, 8.

Footnotes

• [a]. cross the streams: [This probably refers to going into exile.]