The Humiliation of Babylon 1 WBS Come down, and sit in the dust, O 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 WBS Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. BSB BSB: Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
3 WBS Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. BSB BSB: Your nakedness will be uncovered and your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”
4 WBS As for our Redeemer, the LORD 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 WBS Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady 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 WBS 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. 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 WBS And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. BSB BSB: You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.
8 WBS Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thy heart, I am , and none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the 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 WBS But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection, for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thy 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 WBS For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thy heart, I am , and none else besides 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 WBS Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. 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 WBS 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 WBS Thus shall they be to thee with whom thou hast labored, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall 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.