13:14 Like a frightened gazelle 1
or a sheep with no shepherd,
each will turn toward home, 2
each will run to his homeland.
13:15 Everyone who is caught will be stabbed;
everyone who is seized 3 will die 4 by the sword.
13:16 Their children will be smashed to pieces before their very eyes;
their houses will be looted
and their wives raped.
13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; 5
they are not concerned about silver,
nor are they interested in gold. 6
13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; 7
they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, 8
they will not 9 look with pity on children.
21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: 10
Like strong winds blowing in the south, 11
one invades from the desert,
from a land that is feared.
21:2 I have received a distressing message: 12
“The deceiver deceives,
the destroyer destroys.
Attack, you Elamites!
Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all the groaning!” 13
21:3 For this reason my stomach churns; 14
cramps overwhelm me
like the contractions of a woman in labor.
I am disturbed 15 by what I hear,
horrified by what I see.
21:4 My heart palpitates, 16
I shake in fear; 17
the twilight I desired
has brought me terror.
21:5 Arrange the table,
lay out 18 the carpet,
eat and drink! 19
Get up, you officers,
smear oil on the shields! 20
21:6 For this is what the sovereign master 21 has told me:
“Go, post a guard!
He must report what he sees.
21:7 When he sees chariots,
teams of horses, 22
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels,
he must be alert,
very alert.”
21:8 Then the guard 23 cries out:
“On the watchtower, O sovereign master, 24
I stand all day long;
at my post
I am stationed every night.
21:9 Look what’s coming!
A charioteer,
a team of horses.” 25
When questioned, he replies, 26
“Babylon has fallen, fallen!
All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
21:10 O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, 27
what I have heard
from the Lord who commands armies,
the God of Israel,
I have reported to you.
47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,
O virgin 28 daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
O daughter of the Babylonians!
Indeed, 29 you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.
47:2 Pick up millstones and grind flour!
Remove your veil,
strip off your skirt,
expose your legs,
cross the streams!
47:3 Let your private parts be exposed!
Your genitals will be on display! 30
I will get revenge;
I will not have pity on anyone,” 31
47:4 says our protector –
the Lord who commands armies is his name,
the Holy One of Israel. 32
47:5 “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, 33
O daughter of the Babylonians!
Indeed, 34 you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’
47:6 I was angry at my people;
I defiled my special possession
and handed them over to you.
You showed them no mercy; 35
you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. 36
47:7 You said,
‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ 37
You did not think about these things; 38
you did not consider how it would turn out. 39
47:8 So now, listen to this,
O one who lives so lavishly, 40
who lives securely,
who says to herself, 41
‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! 42
I will never have to live as a widow;
I will never lose my children.’ 43
47:9 Both of these will come upon you
suddenly, in one day!
You will lose your children and be widowed. 44
You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, 45
despite 46 your many incantations
and your numerous amulets. 47
47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; 48
you thought, 49 ‘No one sees me.’
Your self-professed 50 wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,
when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ 51
47:11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away. 52
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it. 53
47:12 Persist 54 in trusting 55 your amulets
and your many incantations,
which you have faithfully recited 56 since your youth!
Maybe you will be successful 57 –
maybe you will scare away disaster. 58
47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. 59
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! 60
47:14 Look, they are like straw,
which the fire burns up;
they cannot rescue themselves
from the heat 61 of the flames.
There are no coals to warm them,
no firelight to enjoy. 62
47:15 They will disappoint you, 63
those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. 64
Each strays off in his own direction, 65
leaving no one to rescue you.”
50:31 “Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,” 68
says the Lord God who rules over all. 69
“Indeed, 70 your day of reckoning 71 has come,
the time when I will punish you. 72
18:9 Then 86 the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury 87 with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up. 88 18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,
“Woe, woe, O great city,
Babylon the powerful city!
For in a single hour your doom 89 has come!”
1 tn Or “like a gazelle being chased.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
2 tn Heb “his people” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “his nation” (cf. TEV “their own countries”).
3 tn Heb “carried off,” i.e., grabbed from the fleeing crowd. See HALOT 764 s.v. ספה.
4 tn Heb “will fall” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NLT “will be run through with a sword.”
5 tn Heb “against them”; NLT “against Babylon.”
6 sn They cannot be bought off, for they have a lust for bloodshed.
7 tn Heb “and bows cut to bits young men.” “Bows” stands by metonymy for arrows.
8 tn Heb “the fruit of the womb.”
9 tn Heb “their eye does not.” Here “eye” is a metonymy for the whole person.
10 sn The phrase is quite cryptic, at least to the modern reader. Verse 9 seems to indicate that this message pertains to Babylon. Southern Mesopotamia was known as the Sealand in ancient times, because of its proximity to the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the reference to Babylon as a “desert” foreshadows the destruction that would overtake the city, making it like a desolate desert.
11 tn Or “in the Negev” (NASB).
12 tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”
13 sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.
14 tn Heb “my waist is filled with shaking [or “anguish”].”
15 tn Or perhaps, “bent over [in pain]”; cf. NRSV “I am bowed down.”
16 tn Heb “wanders,” perhaps here, “is confused.”
17 tn Heb “shuddering terrifies me.”
18 tn The precise meaning of the verb in this line is debated. Some prefer to derive the form from the homonymic צָפֹה (tsafoh, “keep watch”) and translate “post a guard” (cf. KJV “watch in the watchtower”; ASV “set the watch”).
19 tn The verbal forms in the first three lines are infinitives absolute, which are functioning here as finite verbs. It is uncertain if the forms should have an imperatival or indicative/descriptive force here.
20 sn Smearing the shields with oil would make them more flexible and effective in battle. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:394.
21 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
22 tn Or “a pair of horsemen.”
23 tn The Hebrew text has, “the lion,” but this makes little sense here. אַרְיֵה (’aryeh, “lion”) is probably a corruption of an original הָרֹאֶה (haro’eh, “the one who sees”), i.e., the guard mentioned previously in v. 6.
24 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay). Some translations take this to refer to the Lord (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV), while others take it to refer to the guard’s human master (“my lord”; cf. NIV, NLT).
25 tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”
26 tn Heb “and he answered and said” (so KJV, ASV).
27 tn Heb “My trampled one, and the son of the threshing floor.”
28 tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).
29 tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).
30 tn Heb “Your shame will be seen.” In this context “shame” is a euphemism referring to the genitals.
31 tn Heb “I will not meet a man.” The verb פָּגַע (pagah) apparently carries the nuance “meet with kindness” here (cf. 64:5, and see BDB 803 s.v. Qal.2).
32 tc The Hebrew text reads, “Our redeemer – the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] is his name, the Holy One of Israel.” The ancient Greek version adds “says” before “our redeemer.” אָמַר (’amar) may have accidentally dropped from the text by virtual haplography. Note that the preceding word אָדָם (’adam) is graphically similar.
33 tn Heb “darkness,” which may indicate a place of hiding where a fugitive would seek shelter and protection.
34 tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).
35 tn Or “compassion.”
36 tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”
37 tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”
38 tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”
39 tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”
40 tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”
41 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
42 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.
43 tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”
44 tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.
45 tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”
46 tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.
47 sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.
48 tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”
49 tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”
50 tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
51 tn See the note at v. 8.
52 tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.
53 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”
54 tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”
55 tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.
56 tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”
57 tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”
58 tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.
59 tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”
60 tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”
61 tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.
62 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.
63 tn Heb “So they will be to you”; NIV “That is all they can do for you.”
64 tn Heb “that for which you toiled, your traders from your youth.” The omen readers and star gazers are likened to merchants with whom Babylon has had an ongoing economic relationship.
65 tn Heb “each to his own side, they err.”
66 tn The words “have drunk the wine of the
67 tn Heb “the king of Sheshach.” “Sheshach” is a code name for Babylon formed on the principle of substituting the last letter of the alphabet for the first, the next to the last for the second, and so on. On this principle Hebrew שׁ (shin) is substituted for Hebrew ב (bet) and Hebrew כ (kaf) is substituted for Hebrew ל (lamed). On the same principle “Leb Kamai” in Jer 51:1 is a code name for Chasdim or Chaldeans which is Jeremiah’s term for the Babylonians. No explanation is given for why the code names are used. The name “Sheshach” for Babylon also occurs in Jer 51:41 where the term Babylon is found in parallelism with it.
68 tn Heb “Behold, I am against you, proud one.” The word “city” is not in the text but it is generally agreed that the word is being used as a personification of the city which had “proudly defied” the
69 tn Heb “oracle of the Lord Yahweh of armies.” For the rendering of this title and an explanation of its significance see the study note on 2:19.
70 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is probably asseverative here (so J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 739, n. 13, and cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for other examples). This has been a common use of this particle in the book of Jeremiah.
71 tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
72 sn Compare v. 27.
73 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
74 tn A new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
75 tn The final clause could also be turned into an adverbial clause of means: “They will consume her flesh by burning her with fire.”
76 tn Grk “hearts.”
77 tn Or “his intent.”
78 tn The infinitive ποιῆσαι (poihsai) was translated here as giving the logical means by which God’s purpose was carried out.
79 tn On this term BDAG 203 s.v. γνώμη 4 states, “declaration, decision, resolution…of God Rv 17:17.”
80 tn For this translation see BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a, “kingship, royal power, royal rule.”
81 tn Or “completed.”
82 tn Grk “For this reason, her plagues will come.”
83 tn Grk “death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).
84 tn This is the same Greek word (πένθος, penqo") translated “grief” in vv. 7-8.
85 tn Here “burned down” was used to translate κατακαυθήσεται (katakauqhsetai) because a city is in view.
86 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
87 tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”
88 tn Grk “from the burning of her.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burns her up,” see L&N 14.63.
89 tn Or “judgment,” condemnation,” “punishment.” BDAG 569 s.v. κρίσις 1.a.β states, “The word oft. means judgment that goes against a person, condemnation, and the sentence that follows…ἡ κ. σου your judgment Rv 18:10.”