Isaiah 47:6
New International Version
I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy. Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke.

New Living Translation
For 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.

English Standard Version
I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.

Berean Standard Bible
I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.

King James Bible
I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

New King James Version
I was angry with My people; I have profaned My inheritance, And given them into your hand. You showed them no mercy; On the elderly you laid your yoke very heavily.

New American Standard Bible
“I was angry with My people, I profaned My heritage And handed them over to you. You did not show mercy to them, On the aged you made your yoke very heavy.

NASB 1995
“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.

NASB 1977
“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.

Legacy Standard Bible
I was furious with My people; I profaned My inheritance And gave them into your hand. You did not show compassion to them, On the aged you made your yoke very heavy.

Amplified Bible
“I was angry with My people, I profaned [Judah] My inheritance And gave them into your hand [Babylon]. You showed them no mercy; You made your yoke very heavy on the aged.

Christian Standard Bible
I was angry with my people; I profaned my possession, and I handed them over to you. You showed them no mercy; you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I was angry with My people; I profaned My possession, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; you made your yoke very heavy on the elderly.

American Standard Version
I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

Contemporary English Version
I was angry with my people. So I let you take their land and bring disgrace on them. You showed them no mercy, but were especially cruel to those who were old.

English Revised Version
I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I was angry with my people. I dishonored those who belong to me. I put them under your control. You showed them no mercy. You placed a heavy burden on old people.

Good News Translation
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.

International Standard Version
I was angry with my people, and I desecrated my heritage, and gave them into your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the aged you laid your yoke most heavily.

Majority Standard Bible
I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.

NET Bible
I was angry at my people; I defiled my special possession and handed them over to you. You showed them no mercy; you even placed a very heavy burden on old people.

New Heart English Bible
I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy; on the aged you have very heavily laid your yoke.

Webster's Bible Translation
I was wroth with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and given them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

World English Bible
I was angry with my people. I profaned my inheritance and gave them into your hand. You showed them no mercy. You laid a very heavy yoke on the aged.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
I have been angry against My people, I have defiled My inheritance "" And I give them into your hand, "" You have not appointed mercies for them, "" You have made your yoke very heavy on the aged,

Young's Literal Translation
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,

Smith's Literal Translation
I was angry against my people; I defiled my inheritances, and I will give them into thine hand, and thou didst not set mercy to them; upon the old thou didst make heavy thy yoke greatly.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
I was angry with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and have given them into thy bend: thou hast shewn no mercy to them: upon the ancient thou hast laid thy yoke exceeding heavy.

Catholic Public Domain Version
I was angry with my people. I have polluted my inheritance, and I have given them into your hand. You have not shown mercy to them. You have greatly increased the burden of your yoke upon the elders.

New American Bible
Angry at my people, I profaned my heritage And gave them into your power; but you showed them no mercy; Upon the aged you laid a very heavy yoke.

New Revised Standard Version
I was angry with my people, I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand, you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
I was angry with my people, for they have polluted my inheritance, so I delivered them into your hands; you showed them no mercy; upon the elders have you very heavily laid your yoke.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
I was angry with my people, for they polluted my inheritance, and I delivered them into your hands, and you have not performed upon them mercy, and you have made your yoke very hard upon the Elders
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
I was wroth with My people, I profaned Mine inheritance, And gave them into thy hand; Thou didst show them no mercy; Upon the aged hast thou very heavily Laid thy yoke.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
I have been provoked with my people; thou hast defiled mine inheritance: I gave them into thy hand, but thou didst not extend mercy to them: thou madest the yoke of the aged man very heavy,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Fall of Babylon Predicted
5“Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of Chaldea. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms. 6I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke. 7You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.…

Cross References
Jeremiah 50:17
Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

Lamentations 1:5
Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. For the LORD has brought her grief because of her many transgressions. Her children have gone away as captives before the enemy.

Zechariah 1:15
but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’

Jeremiah 25:9-11
behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation. / Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. / And this whole land will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

2 Chronicles 36:17-21
So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, / who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king and his officials. / Then the Chaldeans set fire to the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned down all the palaces and destroyed every article of value. ...

Deuteronomy 28:49-50
The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand, / a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.

Psalm 137:7-9
Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!” / O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us. / Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Jeremiah 51:24
Before your very eyes I will repay Babylon and all the dwellers of Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD.

Ezekiel 25:12-14
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom acted vengefully against the house of Judah, and in so doing incurred grievous guilt, / therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off from it both man and beast. I will make it a wasteland, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. / I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, and they will deal with Edom according to My anger and wrath. Then they will know My vengeance, declares the Lord GOD.’

Habakkuk 1:6-7
For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans—that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. / They are dreaded and feared; from themselves they derive justice and sovereignty.

Daniel 5:18-19
As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor. / Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished.

Revelation 18:5-7
For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. / Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup. / As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’

Matthew 23:37-38
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! / Look, your house is left to you desolate.

Luke 19:41-44
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it / and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. / For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ...

Romans 11:7-10
What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, / as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.” / And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution to them. ...


Treasury of Scripture

I was wroth with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and given them into your hand: you did show them no mercy; on the ancient have you very heavily laid your yoke.

wroth

Isaiah 10:6
I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

Isaiah 42:24,25
Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law…

2 Samuel 24:14
And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

I have polluted

Isaiah 43:28
Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

Lamentations 2:2
The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof.

Ezekiel 24:21
Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.

thou didst

Isaiah 13:16
Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

Isaiah 14:17
That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Matthew 7:2
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

James 2:13
For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

upon

Deuteronomy 28:50
A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:

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Isaiah 47
1. God's judgment upon Babylon and Chaldea
6. For their unmercifulness
7. Pride
10. And over-boldness
11. Shall be irresistible














I was angry with My people
This phrase reveals God's righteous indignation towards His chosen people, Israel. The Hebrew word for "angry" here is "קָצַף" (qatsaph), which conveys a sense of intense displeasure or wrath. Historically, this anger is rooted in Israel's persistent disobedience and idolatry, which led to their exile. God's anger is not capricious but is a response to covenant unfaithfulness, highlighting His holiness and justice. This serves as a reminder of the seriousness of sin and the importance of living in obedience to God's commands.

I desecrated My inheritance
The term "desecrated" comes from the Hebrew "חָלַל" (chalal), meaning to profane or defile. God's "inheritance" refers to Israel, His chosen people, whom He set apart for His purposes. By allowing them to be conquered and exiled, God permitted their sanctity to be violated as a consequence of their sin. This action underscores the gravity of Israel's rebellion and the lengths to which God will go to correct His people, emphasizing His sovereignty and the sanctity of His covenant relationship with them.

I gave them into your hand
This phrase indicates God's sovereign control over the nations. The "hand" symbolizes power and control, and here it refers to Babylon, the instrument of God's judgment. The historical context is the Babylonian exile, where God used a pagan nation to discipline His people. This demonstrates that God can use any means to fulfill His purposes, and it reassures believers that even in judgment, God is in control, working all things according to His divine plan.

and you showed them no mercy
The lack of mercy shown by Babylon is highlighted here. The Hebrew word for "mercy" is "רַחַם" (racham), which implies compassion and pity. Despite being used by God as an instrument of judgment, Babylon exceeded their mandate by treating the Israelites with excessive cruelty. This serves as a warning that while God may use nations or individuals to accomplish His purposes, they are still accountable for their actions. It also reflects God's character as one who values mercy and compassion, even in judgment.

Even on the aged you laid a very heavy yoke
The "aged" refers to the elderly among the Israelites, who were subjected to harsh treatment. The "heavy yoke" symbolizes oppression and burden. In ancient times, a yoke was used to control and direct animals, and metaphorically, it represents subjugation and hardship. This phrase highlights the extent of Babylon's cruelty, as they showed no respect or compassion for the vulnerable. It serves as a reminder of the importance of justice and mercy, and it foreshadows God's eventual judgment on Babylon for their excesses. This also reassures believers that God sees and will address all injustices in His perfect timing.

(6) I was wroth with my people . . .--The sin of Babylon was that she had gone beyond her commission as the chastiser of Israel, casting off all reverence for age, and making even the old men do the hard tasks of bond-slaves (Lamentations 4:16; Lamentations 5:12). (Comp. Zechariah 1:15.)

Verse 6. - I was wroth with my people (comp. 2 Kings 24:3, 4; 2 Chronicles 36:13-17). I have polluted... and given; rather, I polluted and gave. The reference is to the conquest of Judaea by Nebuchadnezzar. Thou didst show them no mercy. We have very little historical knowledge of the general treatment of the Jewish exiles during the Captivity. A certain small number - Daniel and the Three Children - were advanced to positions of importance (Daniel 1:19; Daniel 2:48, 49; Daniel 3:30), and, on the whole, well treated. On the other hand, Jehoiachin underwent an imprisonment of thirty-seven years' duration (2 Kings 25:27). Mr. Cheyne says that "the writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel do not suggest that the [bulk of the] exiles were great sufferers." This is, no doubt, true; and we may, perhaps, regard Isaiah's words in this place as sufficiently made good by the "cruelties which disfigured the first days of the Babylonian triumph" (Lamentations 4:16; Lamentations 5:12; 2 Chronicles 36:17). Still, there may well have been a large amount of suffering among the rank-and-file of the captives, of which no historic record has come down to us. Psalm 138. reveals some of the bitter feelings of the exiles. Upon the ancient; rather, upon the aged. The author of Chronicles notes that Nebuchadnezzar, on taking Jerusalem, "had no compassion on young man or maiden, old man or him that stooped for age" (l.s.c.). There is no reason for giving the words of the present passage an allegorical meaning.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I was angry
קָצַ֣פְתִּי (qā·ṣap̄·tî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7107: To crack off, burst out in rage

with
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

My people;
עַמִּ֗י (‘am·mî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

I profaned
חִלַּ֙לְתִּי֙ (ḥil·lal·tî)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 2490: To bore, to wound, to dissolve, to profane, to break, to begin, to play

My heritage,
נַחֲלָתִ֔י (na·ḥă·lā·ṯî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 5159: Something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion

and I placed
וָאֶתְּנֵ֖ם (wā·’et·tə·nêm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - first person common singular | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

them under your control.
בְּיָדֵ֑ךְ (bə·yā·ḏêḵ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

You showed
שַׂ֤מְתְּ (śamt)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person feminine singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

them no
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

mercy;
רַחֲמִ֔ים (ra·ḥă·mîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 7356: Compassion, the womb, a maiden

even upon
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the elderly
זָקֵ֕ן (zā·qên)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 2205: Old

you laid a most heavy yoke.
עֻלֵּ֖ךְ (‘ul·lêḵ)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 5923: A yoke


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 47:6 I was angry with my people (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 47:5
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