The Humiliation of Babylon 1 DBY Come down and sit in the dust, virgin-daughter of Babylon! Sit on the ground, — there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. BSB BSB: “Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of the Chaldeans! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
2 DBY Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove thy veil, lift up the train, uncover the leg, pass over rivers: BSB BSB: Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
3 DBY thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will meet none to stay me . ... BSB BSB: Your nakedness will be uncovered and your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”
4 DBY Our Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. ... BSB BSB: Our Redeemer—the LORD of Hosts is His name—is the Holy One of Israel.
5 DBY Sit silent, and get thee into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more be called, Mistress of kingdoms. BSB BSB: “Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
6 DBY I was wroth with my people, I polluted mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the aged didst thou very heavily lay thy yoke; BSB BSB: 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.
7 DBY and thou saidst, I shall be a mistress for ever; so that thou didst not take these things to heart, thou didst not remember the end thereof. BSB BSB: You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.
8 DBY And now hear this, thou voluptuous one, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thy heart, It is I, and there is none but me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know loss of children: BSB BSB: So now hear this, O lover of luxury who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’
9 DBY yet these two things shall come upon thee in a moment, in one day, loss of children and widowhood; they shall come upon thee in full measure for the multitude of thy sorceries, for the great abundance of thine enchantments. BSB BSB: These two things will overtake you in a moment, in a single day: loss of children, and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the potency of your spells.
10 DBY For thou hast confided in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath seduced thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, It is I, and there is none but me. BSB BSB: You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 DBY But evil shall come upon thee — thou shalt not know from whence it riseth; and mischief shall fall upon thee, which thou shalt not be able to ward off; and desolation that thou suspectest not shall come upon thee suddenly. BSB BSB: But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.
14 DBY Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. BSB BSB: Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.
15 DBY Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, they that trafficked with thee from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his own quarter; there is none to save thee. BSB BSB: This is what they are to you—those with whom you have labored and traded from youth—each one strays in his own direction; not one of them can save you.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.