Isaiah 47

But God has other plans for Babylon! She will become a widow and will lose her children, her citizens (verse 9); this will happen in spite of her sorceries and potent spells.¹⁸⁵ Even the payment of ransom will not save Babylon (verse 11). Indeed, when Babylon fell, the Persians settled for nothing less than total surrender.

12–15 Here God, speaking through Isaiah, adopts a sarcastic tone; He invites the Babylonians to continue relying on their magic spells and sorceries (verse 12), and their astrologers and stargazers (verse 13). But in the end, the Babylonians will find that these sorcerers and astrologers can give them no more help than their idols can—which is to say, no help at all!¹⁸⁶