Isaiah 47:5-11

47:5 “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, 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;

you even placed a very heavy burden on old people.

47:7 You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’

You did not think about these things;

you did not consider how it would turn out.

47:8 So 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! 10 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ 11 

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed. 12 

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, 13 

despite 14  your many incantations

and your numerous amulets. 15 

47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; 16 

you thought, 17  ‘No one sees me.’

Your self-professed 18  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,

when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ 19 

47:11 Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away. 20 

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it. 21 


tn Heb “darkness,” which may indicate a place of hiding where a fugitive would seek shelter and protection.

tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

tn Or “compassion.”

tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”

tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”

tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”

tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”

tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

10 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

11 tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

12 tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.

13 tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”

14 tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.

15 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.

16 tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”

17 tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”

18 tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

19 tn See the note at v. 8.

20 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.

21 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”