| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1"Come down and sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a chair, Daughter of the Chaldeans! For no longer will they call you tender and attractive. | 1"Fall down! Sit in the dirt, O virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered. |
| 2Take millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil, strip off your robes, bare your legs, and wade through the rivers. | 2Pick up millstones and grind flour! Remove your veil, strip off your skirt, expose your legs, cross the streams! |
| 3Your nakedness will be exposed, and your disgrace will also be seen. I'll take vengeance, and I will spare no mortal. | 3Let your private parts be exposed! Your genitals will be on display! I will get revenge; I will not have pity on anyone," |
| 4"Our Redeemer— the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name— is the Holy One of Israel. | 4says our protector--the LORD who commands armies is his name, the Holy One of Israel. |
| 5"Sit silent, and enter into the darkness, you daughter of the Chaldeans; for no more will they call you Queen of Kingdoms. | 5"Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called 'Queen of kingdoms.' |
| 6I 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. | 6I 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. |
| 7You said, 'I will always continue—Queen forever!' You didn't take these things into your thinking, nor did you think about their consequences. | 7You said, 'I will rule forever as permanent queen!' You did not think about these things; you did not consider how it would turn out. |
| 8"Now hear this, you wanton creature, lounging with no cares, and saying to herself: 'I am the one, and there will be none besides me; I won't live as a widow, nor will I see the loss of children.' | 8So now, listen to this, O one who lives so lavishly, who lives securely, who says to herself, 'I am unique! No one can compare to me! I will never have to live as a widow; I will never lose my children.' |
| 9Both of these things will overtake you suddenly on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, despite the multitude of your incantations and the great power of your spells." | 9Both of these will come upon you suddenly, in one day! You will lose your children and be widowed. You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, despite your many incantations and your numerous amulets. |
| 10"You trusted in your own knowledge. You said, 'No one sees me.' Your wisdom and knowledge have misled you. You said in your heart, 'I am the one, and there will be none besides me.' | 10You were complacent in your evil deeds; you thought, 'No one sees me.' Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, 'I am unique! No one can compare to me!' |
| 11"But disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will not be able to ward off; and devastation will come upon you suddenly, and you won't anticipate it. | 11Disaster will overtake you; you will not know how to charm it away. Destruction will fall on you; you will not be able to appease it. Calamity will strike you suddenly, before you recognize it. |
| 12"But stand up now with your spells and your many incantations, at which you have labored from your childhood until today, | 12Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful--maybe you will scare away disaster. |
| 13according to your multiple schemes. Let them stand up now— those who conjure the heavens and gaze at the stars, predicting at the new moons— and save you from what is about to happen to them. | 13You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand--the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions--let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! |
| 14"See, they are just like stubble; fire burns them up. They could not even save themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals for warming oneself, no fire to sit by. | 14Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. |
| 15So will they be to you—those with whom you toiled and did business since your childhood— they wander about, each in his own direction; there is not one who can save you. | 15They will disappoint you, those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. Each strays off in his own direction, leaving no one to rescue you." |
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